Shinji and the Doctor
by machiavelli
Summary: Fourteen-year-old Shinji Ikari finds himself being mentored by the greatest English teacher in the multiverse. The real question is, will the strange man called the Doctor help save the world - or end it? (Cover art by Epsthian-Artist on DeviantArt. Used with permission.)
1. The Stranger on the Train

It was raining the day Shinji met the Doctor. He had just run away from the apartment he shared with his commanding officer. He knew he had to go back. Instead, he sat on the train he had chosen at random, listening to the same two tracks on his father's tape player over and over again. The hours passed. The rain continued to fall. People came and went from the train, talking and laughing silently beyond his headphones. He told himself that it didn't matter.

Some time after sunset, he noticed a new sound above that of the music - a strange high-pitched buzzing in his left ear. He tried his best to ignore it, but in time it started to bother him. Shinji reluctantly paused the tape player and turned to the left.

There was a man sitting next to him - a tall, gangly foreigner in a long brown coat. On his lap, he held an old paint can, out of the top of which ran a large collection of wires and antennas. How he had managed to get the thing through the security checkpoints, Shinji couldn't begin to guess. The man was poking at the contraption with what looked like a blue penlight.

"Ex-excuse me," Shinji said - or tried to. It didn't really come out. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Excuse me. I'm sorry, but could you please stop that?"

"Eh?" The man glanced towards Shinji. As he did, the penlight slipped out of his hand.

The tape player abruptly sparked and shorted out in Shinji's hands. He yelped and jumped to his feet - then immediately sat down again. His legs had been asleep for hours. The tape player dropped to the floor.

"Ooh, sorry," the tall man said. He spoke surprisingly good Japanese, if with an odd accent. "Sorry, my fault. You all right, then?" He reached down and scooped up the tape player.

"Uh," Shinji said.

"Here, let me fix that." The man picked up the penlight and held it to the tape player. "Must've been on the same resonance frequency as the tape. You just don't see too many cassette players around anymore. Mind you, they're brilliant - lost art and all that. Used to have one of these myself. Gorgeous sound quality - well, up until I had to use it as the trigger in an antimatter bomb. Still wasn't bad after that, though."

"Er," Shinji said.

"There you are, good as new." The man handed Shinji the tape player. "Or nearly. Might've voided the warranty a bit, sorry. I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?"

"Um." Shinji swallowed. This wasn't fair, he thought. He wasn't in the right state of mind to deal with anyone right now, much less this - _this sort_ of person. "Sh - Shinji."

"Aww, Shinji, that's a brilliant name," the Doctor said cheerfully. He started to poke at the wires coming out of the paint bucket with the penlight. "It's one of those names where anything you get involved in sounds all deep and symbolic. Like Paul or David. Or Jesus, I suppose. Mind you, he always insisted we call him Josh. Not much for the formalities, that one."

Shinji tried for a weak smile. "I-is that so."

One of the wires the Doctor was holding sparked. On top of the paint can, a tiny satellite dish started to spin around. The Doctor looked pleased. "Oh, there we go. Now we've got a live one." He gestured to the can. "Rift energy collector. See, there's this great big dimensional rift floating around up above this city. Kind of like a big crack in the fabric of space and time; lets out a lot of energy, if you know what to look for."

"Uh-huh." Maybe if he just kept agreeing with him, Shinji thought, the man would stop talking.

"Fell through it myself. The rift, I mean. Banged up my ride a bit in the process. Should be able to fix it, once I've got enough power put back together." The Doctor flicked a switch on the side of the paint can off and on a few times. "Problem is, the rift doesn't have any kind of a fixed position. It keeps moving all over the place. So I threw this rig together with a spare magnetic bottle and a fission battery and went after it. Figured a nice big loop around the city was just what I needed, so here I am.

"How about you?"

"Huh?" The question caught Shinji off-guard.

"You've been on this train longer than I have." The Doctor bent down a stray antenna. "Saw you when I got on. And we've been round the city at least twice, so you're not taking the train anywhere in particular. So why'd you get on?"

"Oh. Err - that is, uh..."

The train entered a tunnel. The Doctor waited patiently.

Shinji sighed. This really wasn't fair at all. "It's... complicated," he said at last.

"Usually is," the Doctor said.

That was when the train slowed and came to a stop, right in the middle of the tunnel. Shinji heard the brakes scream. Above his head, his duffel bag slid to the end of the rack.

The Doctor glanced around the car curiously. "Right. I'm pretty sure I didn't do that."

The train's public address system crackled to life. "Attention," said a male voice. "This is your driver speaking. We are experiencing a temporary technical fault within the engine. We are working to solve the problem, and should be -"

The speakers abruptly cut out. As did the lights. All of the lights.

"Or that," the Doctor added, in the darkness.


	2. Mind the Gap

It was pitch black inside of the train car. As far as Shinji could tell, every single light - both inside the train and outside in the tunnel - had gone dead all at once.

Next to him, Shinji could hear the Doctor scramble around. "Hold on a tick - know I have one somewhere -" There was a sharp crack that sounded like a bone breaking in two. Then he could see the Doctor sitting next to him, holding up a bright green glowstick, like the ones in earthquake kits.

"Right. That's better now, isn't it?" The Doctor glanced around the car. "I'm guessing that this sort of thing doesn't happen too often around here."

Shinji shook his head. The Doctor sighed. "Blimey. What is it about me and public transportation? Could've sworn _trains_ were still all right..."

"Mommy, who turned out the lights?" a child's voice asked.

"Shh," a woman's voice said. "You heard the driver. They're fixing it."

Shinji looked down the train car. There were three other people in the compartment: a middle-aged woman and her son, who looked to be about three or four years old; and a young woman in a secretary's uniform, who was looking through her purse.

"Here, hold this." The Doctor handed Shinji the glowstick. Shinji took it without thinking. The Doctor pushed the paint can onto the seat next to him and stood up. "Everyone all right down there?"

"Yes, thank you," the mother said politely.

The office lady groaned and held up a cell phone. "There's no service," she said. "We must be too far into the tunnel. I can't even text." The phone let out a musical tone and died. She banged it against the side of her seat. "Oh, come on, dammit! I just charged this thing, I swear..."

There was a knock at the door to the next car. A middle-aged man with a thinning hairline slid it open and stuck his head in. "Is that a light?" he asked.

"And more where that came from, I think," the Doctor said. He started to rummage through the pockets of his coat.

"Ah, is that so." The middle-aged man wandered into the train car, a rolled-up magazine under one arm. He was followed by a young salaryman with five o'clock shadow that looked at least three days old, a beat-up suit jacket thrown over one shoulder.

Before Shinji knew it, they were all gathered at the center of the train car. In addition to the glowstick, the Doctor had managed to unearth a candle, two flashlights (neither of which worked), and what appeared to be a small oil-burning lantern from out of his coat. He stood towards the center of the group. "So, names. I like names. Names are a good start. I'm the Doctor. And you?"

"Kotono Miyamura," said the secretary. "And that was Doctor... ?"

"Just the Doctor. That's all."

"I'm Izumi Yamashita," said the mother. "And this is Hiroshi." The little boy waved shyly.

"Call me Sato," said the salaryman. "Everyone does."

The middle-aged man with the magazine raised his hand. "Yoichi Sadamoto. Pleased to meet you."

They looked at Shinji. "Shinji Ikari," he said.

He knew immediately that he had made a mistake. The train car fell silent. "As in, _Commander_ Ikari?" said Sato. "You're the Evangelion pilot?"

"An Eva pilot?" Mrs. Yamashita's voice quaked a little. "Are you serious?"

Shinji stared down at the floor. It really wasn't fair, he thought, that no matter how much you might wish you could melt into the ground and disappear, it never seemed to happen.

"So!" The Doctor clapped his hands together loudly. "I was thinking. Since it's been a while here, and there's no sign of the train coming back on, it might not be a bad idea for us to go up to the engine. See what's going on and all."

"Good idea," said Mr. Sadamoto. "I'll tell you what. While you're at it, I'll go and check the rest of the train. There might be people too far down from us to see the light."

"By yourself?" the Doctor asked.

Mr. Sadamoto waved a hand. "Oh, it'll be fine, it'll be fine. If I might just borrow one of your lights, sir?"

The Doctor handed the candle and a small book of matches to him. Mr. Sadamoto gave him a small bow, then left the car the way he'd came.

Shinji heard that buzzing noise again. He looked over and saw the Doctor holding the penlight-thing up against the palm of his hand. "Still works, good," he heard the Doctor murmur.

Things suddenly looked a bit darker in the train. Shinji glanced at the glowstick he was holding. "Excuse me?" he asked. "Mister... Mr. Doctor?"

"Yes?"

Shinji held up the glowstick. "Is it supposed to change color like that?"

The Doctor looked at him. "Like what? It looks the same to me."

"Then why -" It was strange, Shinji thought. It was very strange. Just moments before, the glowstick had been letting off a sickly green light. But now it seemed to be glowing red - blood red, in fact. And it was everywhere. Especially on his han -

"Oh," Shinji heard himself say.

It was strange. The train was nearly silent, but all of a sudden, every sound - every breath, every movement, every heartbeat - seemed deafening to him. He pressed his hands against his ears - which was good, since then he didn't have to look at them. And the train was red and the city was red and everything was red. He could hear the Doctor saying something, but he couldn't make out the words over the cries of the cicadas and his own screams and the pain in his side. And he could _feel_ the burns on his face and why couldn't Father have told him it would _hurt_ so much. And he could see his hands the Eva's hands on the knife and hear Misato screaming in his ear. And then...

* * *

><p>He woke up some time later, lying flat on his back. He could smell cigarettes, and feel something metal pressing up against the top of his head. He opened his eyes. He was stretched out across a number of the train's seats, the Doctor's paint can next to him. The lantern, now lit, was sitting in the middle of the train car. The salaryman, the office lady and the mother - her son asleep beside her - sat at the opposite end of the compartment, whispering to each other. The salaryman - Mr. Sato, that was his name - and Ms. Miyamura were both smoking. They didn't seem to have noticed that Shinji had woken up. He saw no reason to let them know otherwise. He shut his eyes again.<p>

He heard one of the doors to the other cars slide open. "Oi." The Doctor sounded annoyed. "I thought I told you lot to keep an eye on him."

"We can see him just fine from here," said Mr. Sato.

"Did you find out anything at the engine, Doctor?" Ms. Miyamura asked.

"Nothing. Everything's shut down - radio, lights, engine, the whole bit. No sign of the driver, either."

"Maybe he's gone down the tunnel to get help," said Mrs. Yamashita.

"Hope so." Shinji heard the Doctor walk further into the car. "But, seriously, what are you doing leaving him on his own? Can't you see he's not well?"

"Well, of course, but -" Mrs. Yamashita hesitated, then continued in a hushed tone. "It's against the law, isn't it? Disturbing him or asking him questions or anything, I mean."

"There's a fine just for talking to him without official permission," said Sato. "Even prison time, if the judge doesn't like your face. I should know. I'm a lawyer."

Shinji blinked. No one had told him _that_.

"Are you serious?" The Doctor sounded shocked. "Why?"

"Well, he's an Evangelion pilot," said Mrs. Yamashita. "If you said something that bothers him or made him angry, he might not be able to make it move anymore. And then we'd all be dead, wouldn't we?"

The Doctor sighed. "Right. Let's start from the beginning, then. What's an Evangelion?"

"You don't know?" Ms. Miyamura asked sharply.

"They're the giant robots all of the papers talk about," said Mrs. Yamashita. "The ones that protect the city from the aliens."

"You're kidding me. _Actual_ giant robots?"

"Always wondered why they don't just stick the same weapons on a plane or something," said Sato. "Secretary-General must be a Gundam fan."

"It's... different, have to give it that." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "Tell me about these aliens."

"The Angels?" Ms. Miyamura sounded incredulous. "How could you not know about the Angels?"

"Oh, I don't get out much," the Doctor said vaguely. "Bit of a hermit and all that."

"You _missed_ the gigantic aliens trying to kill us all?"

"Is that what that noise was? I was wondering. But let me get this straight - giant robots fighting off massive alien creatures in a city?" Shinji could practically hear the Doctor grin from across the room. "Oh, this is Japan, isn't it?"

"Wait until one of them kills someone you know," Ms. Miyamura said darkly.

"Right. Sorry. So alien invasion, giant robots, got it. But why _him_ as the pilot, though? He can't be more than - what? Thirteen? Fourteen? Not even close to recruitment age."

"They have to be that young," said Mrs. Yamashita. "That's what they say. Something about a brain interface. If anyone older tries it, they just go mad."

"I've heard they're all genetically-engineered super soldiers." Sato again. "Trained from birth and all that."

"Yeah," the Doctor said. "Can't really say I'm getting that special forces vibe from him."

Sato shrugged. "It was just a rumor."

"By the way," Ms. Miyamura asked Sato, "how did you know he was a pilot?"

"My firm has YESOD-level security clearance. We handle all of the Eva property damage lawsuits. He's named in half of them."

"Sorry," the Doctor said. "Just to make sure I have this straight. Fourteen years old, fate of the world on his shoulders, fighting in a war. It's against the law to talk to him - even just to say thank you. But people can still _sue_ him?"

"They try, but they really can't." Sato stubbed out his cigarette on the side of his seat. "State security and all that. Judge usually throws them out the moment they show up in court."

"Sweet gig," Ms. Miyamura observed.

"It pays the bills."

"God," Mrs. Yamashita said softly. "He looks so young, doesn't he?"

"Yes," the Doctor agreed, his voice suddenly quiet. "He does."

* * *

><p>They fell silent after that. Which was good, Shinji thought. All the talking was starting to make his head hurt. Then he heard footsteps nearby him. "All right there?" the Doctor asked. "Feeling any better?"<p>

Shinji opened his eyes. "You could tell I was awake?"

"Saw you blink," the Doctor said. He was standing next to Shinji, the glowstick in hand. "Besides, it's not like you could've slept through all of that. How do you feel?"

Shinji sat up. "All right, I guess."

The Doctor pointed the buzzing penlight-thing at Shinji, then looked at it. "Pulse and temperature look normal. That was a pretty severe panic attack you just had. You get many of those?"

Shinji looked away. "Sometimes."

"You should be getting treatment for that."

Shinji pointed at the penlight. "What is that thing, anyway?"

"Oh, this?" The Doctor glanced at it. "Screwdriver."

"Really."

"Sure. Why wouldn't it be?" The Doctor pocketed the device.

Shinji rubbed his eyes. His head still hurt. "Why are you talking to me, anyway? Didn't you hear what they said? You could get arrested."

The Doctor grinned. "They'd have to catch me first. All right if I ask you a question?"

"What?"

"These Angels they said you were fighting. They wouldn't happen to be... _weeping_, would they? Made out of stone, most of the time?"

"No. They're big and..." Shinji couldn't think of a better word. "... squishy."

"Yeah, that's for the best, then." The Doctor leaned forward and looked out the window. "I'll tell you what isn't, though. That."

Shinji looked. It was still pitch black in the tunnel outside of the car. It took him a moment to realize the Doctor was staring at the window itself, or rather, at the thin layer of frost on the outside of it.

"Is it just me," the Doctor said quietly, "or did it feel like it was summer outside earlier on tonight?"

Shinji put his hand against the window. It felt cold to the touch. "What does it mean?"

"Something's draining the energy out of this entire area." There was an odd tone to the Doctor's voice. He pressed a single finger against the window. "Just about everything outside of the visible spectrum. Electricity... radio waves... infrared... even heat."

Shinji eyed the paint can on the seat next to him. "Didn't you say that thing was an energy collector?

"Nah. Good catch, though. I shut that down as soon as the lights went out. This is something else."

"Like what?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Could be anything. Spaceship in orbit trying to collect power... something trying to map itself onto the local reality... certain kinds of curling irons." He looked back at Shinji. "Think you can walk?"

Shinji nodded.

"Good." The Doctor turned towards the frost, an odd look in his eye. "I think it's time we got moving."

* * *

><p>It took surprisingly little effort to get the others to agree to leave the train car. The only one who needed convincing was Mr. Sato. "I've seen too many horror movies like this," he said, his arms crossed. "The heroes start heading to safety, only to get picked off one by one."<p>

"Well, sure," said the Doctor. "Good point. But what about the one who thinks he's playing it safe, only to ironically be the first one attacked?"

Sato sighed and stood up. "Touché."

They started to walk through the cars towards the back of the train, Shinji holding the glowstick, Mr. Sato carrying the lantern. The Doctor, paint can under one arm, walked in front with Ms. Miyamura. "By the way," the Doctor said conversationally to her. "I've been meaning to ask, could I borrow your radio?"

"You mean my cell phone?"

"No, I mean your radio. The one you keep in your purse, next to the handgun."

Everyone stopped in their tracks. "She has a gun?" Sato asked.

"So did Mr. Sadamoto," the Doctor stated matter-of-factly. "Rolled up in his magazine. Only reason I let him go off on his own."

Ms. Miyamura sighed. "I guess it can't be helped, then." She took a badge from her purse and showed it to the group. "NERV Intelligence, Public Safety and Security Division. Mr. Sadamoto is my partner."

"A security agent?" Mrs. Yamashita exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think? Keeping an eye on him." Ms. Miyamura pointed a thumb at Shinji.

Shinji blinked. "Misato sent you?"

"_Captain_ Katsuragi," Ms. Miyamura said, a slight note of disdain in her voice, "didn't have to. You're a pilot. We're _always_ watching." She reached into her purse and threw a small grey box at the Doctor. "Here. It's not picking up anything, though. I already tried."

The Doctor caught the box in his free hand and examined it. "Military-grade. Shielded power source. Brilliant. I'll see if I can boost the signal on this."

"As long as you can walk and do that, fine." Ms. Miyamura pulled the handgun out of her purse and clipped it to the belt of her dress. "And incidentally, Doctor? We're going to have a talk after this is over. A _long_ talk."

The Doctor grinned. "Can't wait."

Ms. Miyamura narrowed her eyes. "Come on, then." She waved the group to follow her.

* * *

><p>They went through the next few train cars in silence. It lasted until someone's stomach grumbled. Shinji realized, to his surprise, that it was his own. That's right, he thought. He hadn't had anything to eat that day, had he.<p>

"Here." Shinji turned his head. Mrs. Yamashita was walking next to him, her son by her side. She held a candy bar out to Shinji.

Shinji took it. "Oh. Thank you."

"I've been thinking," she said, her voice trembling a little. "I probably won't get the chance to say this to you again. So I just wanted to say - thank you. Thank you so much."

Shinji stared at her. "Y-you're welcome."

She smiled and pulled Hiroshi a little closer to her side. "I suppose you don't hear very much from people outside of the organization. But everyone really does -"

"Hey, who's that?" Sato asked.

He had stopped short and was holding up the lantern. At the very end of the train car they had just entered, Mr. Sadamoto was sitting back in one of the seats, his magazine spread out over his face. He looked like he was sleeping.

"Oh, come on!" Ms. Miyamura shouted. Shinji jumped back from her a little. "You can't possibly be napping at a time like this, you lazy bastard!"

She snatched the glowstick out of Shinji's hand and started to stride down to the other end of the car. The Doctor reached out and grabbed the cuff of her sleeve. "Don't," he said. "Seriously. Don't."

She shook him off. "It's fine," she growled. "He's always doing this." She stomped off.

"It's like she's never seen a movie before," Sato said.

The Doctor shook his head and called out, "Ms. Miyamura - Kotono - we still don't know what we're dealing with here! Until we do -"

"Hurt." The car fell silent. It took Shinji a moment to realize that the word had come from underneath the magazine. "Hurt," Mr. Sadamoto whispered again.

"What, are you hurt?" Ms. Miyamura had reached his side. "Fine. Let me see."

She reached over and pulled the magazine off.

A lot of things happened at once. Mrs. Yamashita screamed. Sato dropped the lantern on the floor and backed up to the wall. Ms. Miyamura leapt back and drew her pistol. Shinji stayed completely still, like he was rooted to the ground. He stared at the thing at the other end of the train.

Bone had grown out through Mr. Sadamoto's face, pushing past flesh and cartilage and eyes. The protrusion, though it had come out at an uneven angle, resembled a white mask with two dark spots for eyes and a long point at the chin, like the skull of a bird. And Shinji knew what it was.

"What is _that_?" the Doctor asked. He sounded almost fascinated.

"Oh, God," Sato said. "He looks just like the Angel. The one from the first attack."

It raised its hunched form onto its feet. There was the sound of bone cracking and splintering. Its arms immediately grew to twice their former length. Its fingers resembled long needles.

There was a click from Ms. Miyamura's gun. "Get the pilot out of here," she said. "That's an order."

"No, don't!" the Doctor shouted. Ms. Miyamura fired two shots straight into the Angel. There was a flash - two flashes. The lights in the train car suddenly flickered on and off.

The Angel hadn't moved. It reached out for her. She fired again. The train's lights once again came on for a split second. It grabbed her wrists and pointed them away with one hand. With the other, it grasped her neck. Shinji couldn't move. He couldn't look away. He could only watch as the Angel started to _pull_...

The Doctor grabbed Shinji and forcibly turned him away. He pointed the screwdriver at the exit out of the train car. The door burst open. "Everyone out!" he shouted. "RUN!"

He pushed Shinji out of the door. Shinji ran.

* * *

><p>It was cold outside of the train, freezing. Shinji ran blindly through the dark. He could hear Hiroshi crying in the distance. The Doctor shouted, "Whatever you do, just keep running! Don't look back!"<p>

Then Shinji tripped over something and went sprawling onto the ground.

He picked himself up and tried to get his bearings. He had gotten separated from the group. He could hear Hiroshi wailing, somewhere in the distance to his left. He glanced back at the train car.

He saw the Angel. It leapt out of the open doorway, its shape silhouetted by the light from the lantern Sato had dropped. It paused for a moment. Then it turned to its right, away from Shinji, towards the direction the others had run.

Shinji realized he was still holding the candy bar. It had partially melted in his hand.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Hey!"

The shape of the Angel turned towards him.

"Leave them alone!" Shinji's voice cracked. His entire body was shaking. He couldn't help it. "I'm the one you want, right? I'm the one who killed you! I'm - I'm sorry. I'm -" He could feel tears running down his face. God, he thought. I'm pathetic.

He drew in a breath. "Just get it over with already! Just get it over with..."

He waited. He could hear its footsteps, coming towards him in the dark. He shut his eyes. He didn't want to see anything.

There was a buzzing noise.

Shinji looked up. The Angel was right in front of him, barely an arm's length away. A glowing yellow octagon hung in the air before it. Just to Shinji's left, the Doctor stood, his screwdriver pointed at the Angel.

"Nice force field," the Doctor said. "Very nice. Stopped my sonic cold. But you know what? The way the lights were going on back in the train car - I'm betting you can't do that and keeping draining the power at the same time. Which means... you _really_ shouldn't be standing there."

Shinji looked down. The Angel was standing on top of one of the train rails.

There was an explosion of sparks. The Angel screamed. The Doctor grabbed Shinji by the back of his shirt and pulled him back. Everything went dark again. There was the sound of something shaking, and the smell of burned meat in the air.

Then the lights came back on.


	3. Parting Words

The first thing Shinji did when the lights came back on was to vomit uncontrollably on the Doctor's shoes. The Doctor winced but said nothing.

Shinji looked up. The Angel-thing lay collapsed on the ground, burned and shriveled. It looked smaller than it had seemed in the dark. The signal and work lights throughout the tunnel had turned back on, as had the fluorescents back in the train. At the far end of the tunnel, he could see the rapidly receding figures of Sato and Mrs. Yamashita, carrying Hiroshi in her arms; and he could hear the sounds of approaching sirens.

"All right, then?" the Doctor asked cheerfully. "Physically, at least? All limbs and major organs still in the right spots?" Shinji nodded. "Right. Come on, then. Let's get you something to eat."

"Wh-what about Mrs. Yamashita?" asked Shinji. "And Hiroshi? And -"

"Oh, they'll be fine now. You never want to stick around for the cleanup on these things. Small rooms, too many questions, lots of waiting around. And besides -" The Doctor looked Shinji in the eye. "She said that you were being watched. If you really want to free from it all, at least for a little while, this might be your one chance."

Shinji glanced down the tunnel, where the others had gone. He could see flashing lights in the distance.

"Up to you, though," the Doctor said. He strolled off casually towards the other end of the tunnel, away from the sirens, paint can in hand.

Shinji hesitated. Then ran to catch up.

* * *

><p>They found a gas station a few miles down the tracks. It was open, but they weren't accepting credit cards. The Doctor eventually managed to unearth three surprisingly crisp five-hundred-yen notes from his pockets, enough for two cups of tea and a handful of candy bars. Across the street from the station, there was a park that looked towards the city.<p>

"You'll want to drink that tea," the Doctor advised as they sat down on a park bench. "Helps with the nightmares, I find. Aww, look at that! They lower into the ground! That's brilliant!" He watched as the downtown skyscrapers rose and fell in the distance, a grin on his face. "Not to mention, practical. What with the giant monsters and all."

Shinji quietly ate one of the chocolate rice cakes. It was one of the ones with vanilla. The station hadn't had any of the caramel. Eventually, he asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Being this kind to me."

"Well," the Doctor said. "Thing is, I get curious about things, that's all. Just the way I am. I see something that doesn't quite make sense, it'll drive me mad until I've got it figured out.

"And right now, I'm wondering how a fourteen-year-old boy in modern Japan winds up with post-traumatic shock syndrome."

"What's that?" Shinji asked.

"You mean, they haven't told you?" The Doctor sighed. "No, never mind, of course they haven't. You'll... really want to look that up at some point. Look, just - start at the beginning and tell me everything. Please."

"Why?"

"Because if you don't, it'll tear your mind apart." The Doctor seemed to be looking past Shinji somehow, to some place and time only he could see. "All the things you can't bear to think about. All of the memories you wish you could forget. They build up. Until one day, you'll look at yourself in a mirror and you won't be able to recognize yourself. That's what they can take from you, if you let them."

Shinji stared into the styrofoam tea cup. "I-it's a long story," he finally said.

"I have time."

They sat on the park bench. Eventually, Shinji started to talk.

* * *

><p>It was the first time that Shinji had ever told someone the entire story. About his father summoning him to the city, after years with no contact. About how it'd turned out that his father was commander of an entire military organization, dedicated to turning back the invasion. About the first Angel attack, and being told that he had to fight, and the injured girl they'd brought in on the gurney to send in his place when he'd tried to refuse. How they hadn't told him that he'd be able to <em>feel<em> everything that the Evangelion felt, and that horrible first battle, and how he hadn't been able to use his left arm for days; and the days of training afterwards, and being taken in by his commander, Misato; and the boy who had hit him at school because he'd let his little sister get injured. And then the battle with the second Angel, and feeling it rip through the Eva's side like it was his own, and running away, all the while knowing that he'd have to go back eventually, it's not like he had any other place to go...

"And the worst part of it is - no one seems to get that I'm the worst possible choice for all of this." Shinji's throat felt scratchy. He couldn't remember the last time he'd talked this much. "I'm everything that a pilot shouldn't be. I'm weak, and spineless, and a coward -"

"Right. Stop it right there," said the Doctor. "Don't say that. Don't even _think_ that, not even for a second. And you know why? Fate of humanity put on your shoulders, thrown into a war - no training, no preparation, no support. To go through something like that - to _survive_ - and to still care about people once it's over? That's not just satisfactory. That's _incredible._"

Shinji crossed his arms. "But - why couldn't I - why do I have to be so -" Words failed him. "Why do I have to be so _me_?"

"Be what? Be human? As opposed to just an unthinking, unfeeling weapon?" The Doctor sighed. "Shinji, listen to me. You're _fourteen years old._ You can't properly hate yourself. You've barely even started to figure out who you are. Well -" The Doctor scratched the side of his nose. "Will say, you do seem to have established one thing definitively. I mean, what with the way you risked your life earlier tonight for the sake of a few people you'd only just met."

"But -" Shinji said.

The Doctor cut him off. "Uhp, uhp. Doesn't matter why you _think_ you did it. The point is, you did. And what about before that? When you nearly got yourself killed so that poor girl wouldn't have to?

"You can be anyone or anything you want to be, Shinji Ikari. You still have time. But trust me, because I'd know -" The Doctor grinned. "You are _not_ - and will never be - a coward."

Shinji didn't know what to say to that.

The Doctor turned towards the city. "Look at it." He smiled. "You know what the amazing thing about this island is? I've seen it destroyed so many times. Earthquakes and wars and great waves and solar flares... and you know what? No matter how many times you get knocked down, no matter how much you lose, you keep coming back. You keep rebuilding and building and building, no matter what... until you're one of the most advanced and respected nations on the planet.

"That strength's your birthright, Shinji. It'll be there when you need it. Well, won't be quite that simple, of course, but..."

He looked back. Shinji had fallen asleep.

The Doctor took a sip from his cup of tea. "Long day," he said to no one in particular.

* * *

><p>Captain Misato Katsuragi liked to think of herself as a patient woman, at least under the proper circumstances. Circumstances which did not include being woken up at four in the morning with very bad news.<p>

"Widen the search perimeter to ten kilometers," she barked into the phone as she put her shoes on. "I don't care who you have to wake up! Just get it done!"

She slammed the phone down and headed for the door. She got three steps before it rang again. She grabbed it off the hook. "_What?_ Oh, it's you, Ritsuko... no, they still haven't found him. I was just about to go join the search."

"Well, it can't hurt, can it?" She paced restlessly through the empty apartment. "All right, I'm sorry... God, what a nightmare. I don't know what Intelligence is doing these days. First they disobey my orders not to follow him. Then they wait _hours_ to tell me there's been an attack..." She waved her hand. "Of course I know that! That's not the point!"

She stopped outside the door to Shinji's room, or what had been his room. The door had been left slightly ajar. She reached out to close it...

... and saw Shinji, asleep on the bed.

She froze in place. "Ritsuko," she whispered into the phone. "Can I call you back?" She hung up without waiting for an answer.

She slid the door open and stepped into the room. Shinji stirred a little, but didn't wake up.

She stared at him. "But how did he...?" she asked out loud. She'd been in the apartment all night. She hadn't slept all that well. And she hadn't heard the door open...

* * *

><p>A few blocks away, there was a buzzing noise. A hidden camera switched off, just for a second...<p>

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_Re: LivinJP's comment – it actually makes me unreasonably happy that someone picked up on that little detail. You're right, there is no such thing as a five-hundred yen note these days. But was that_ always _the case?_

_Edit, 3/26/2013 - all right, all right, I'll just explain it. There **was** a five-hundred yen note, but the Bank of Japan stopped printing them in 1994. It's a stealth time travel joke._


	4. Series Outline and Notes

**OUTLINE FOR SERIES THIRTY AND THREE-QUARTERS**  
>(<em>Warning: Spoilers Below<em>)

**— Episode 1: Shinji and the Doctor**  
>Fourteen-year-old Shinji Ikari meets a very odd man calling himself the Doctor on a train. Unfortunately, something <em>else<em> has followed them on-board...

**— Episode 2: The Sound of Distant Thunder**  
>The Doctor has a choice to make when the Angel Ramiel appears in the skies above Tokyo-3.<p>

**— Episode 3: Jet Alone**  
>(<em>Part 1 of 2<em>) Still reeling from the discovery that the Doctor has taken on a job teaching at his school, Shinji is called away to deal with a weapons project gone rogue.

**— Episode 4: The Walking Devastation**  
>(<em>Part 2 of 2<em>) With a radioactive Jet Alone tearing its way towards Tokyo-3, the Doctor and Shinji must race against time to save not only Japan, but the entire world.

**— Episode 5: Parent-Teacher Conference**  
>The Doctor and Misato are forced to team up - in spite of their disagreements - when Shinji's school is attacked.<p>

**— Episode 6: The Terror from Above**  
>Tokyo-3 is rocked by a series of apparently causeless explosions. It's up to the Doctor and Shinji to solve the mystery before the city is reduced to rubble.<p>

**— Episode 7: Where Angels Fear to Tread**  
>Misato calls in the Doctor to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances within NERV Headquarters.<p>

**— Episodes 8 and 9: Blackout / A Little Blood Music**  
>(<em>Two parts.<em>) The Doctor takes advantage of a city-wide blackout to further investigate the Geofront, with the Children along for the ride.

**— Episode 10: The Fall of Night**  
>It's up to the Doctor and Misato to save Shinji when an encounter with the latest Angel goes terribly wrong.<p>

**— Episode 11: Beyond Humanity**  
>The Doctor defeats an Angel, using only a ladder.<p>

**— Episode 12: Slouching Towards Bethlehem**  
>TBA.<p>

**— Episode 13: The Perfect Weapon**  
>Gendo contacts the Doctor with information that could change the destiny of the human race... but at what cost?<p>

**— Episode 14: The Red Queen's Race**  
>It's up to Asuka to save the world from an all-consuming plague of Angels.<p>

**— Episode 15: The Potter's Field**  
>TBA.<p>

**— Episode 16: The Angel of Death**  
>Banned from piloting following the defeat of Iruel, Shinji must find another way to save the day when the most powerful Angel to date attacks NERV Headquarters.<p>

**— Episode 17: Iatrogenesis**  
>TBA.<p>

**— Episode 18: The Breaking Wheel**  
>The Doctor and NERV must use every trick up their sleeves to survive when humanity is attacked by the penultimate Angel.<p>

**— Episode 19: Core Control**  
>The Doctor, Shinji and Asuka uncover the dark secrets at the heart of NERV.<p>

**— Episode 20: The Ceremony of Innocence**  
>TBA<p>

**— Episode 21: The Mousetrap**  
>Gendo's plans come to fruition.<p>

**— Episodes 22, 23, 24 and 25: Armageddon / Third Impact / The Last Battle / A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall**  
>(<em>Four parts.<em>) With the Doctor out of commission, Shinji faces the end of the world alone.

**TIMELINE NOTES**

_For the Doctor, this story occurs in between _The Waters of Mars_ and _The End of Time_. For Shinji, this timeline begins during Episode 04: "Hedgehog's Dilemma."_

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**

_My life is more or less littered with half-finished projects. I honestly don't know at this point if I'll write so much as a word beyond this story. All the same, it was fun to think about. I'm glad I at least managed this much._

_If anyone out there is able, I'd be very interested in seeing this story translated in Japanese. Leave a comment if you might consider it._

_**Update, 9/18/2011** – Added the episode summaries. I'm the sort of person who enjoys planning great big stories, even if I never get around to writing them. I thought that I'd try and post at least this much, if just to see what people thought._

_Other features of the planned story would include:_

— _The Tenth Doctor more or less as Fixer Sue to the Evangelion universe... because, yeah, I'm sure_ that's _never been done before. (insert eye roll here, please.) Then again, since that's more or less what he's been for fifty years without complaint, I figure it's worth a shot. Besides, with him around, the Angels won't need to hold back quite as much as they did in canon._

— _For me, though, the really fun part would be having the Doctor - a character somewhat uniquely suited for the task - investigate the mysteries and big questions Evangelion left unanswered, with Shinji along for the ride as the Watson. Questions like:_

—– _who the Angels are, where they came from, and what they want (no, they aren't related to the Weeping Angels, or any of the Doctor's enemies, for that matter. Nor is the answer related to the First Ancestral Race mentioned by the Evageeks wiki... or with the Cthulhu Mythos or the Warhammer 40k pantheon, as I understand that those options have been covered.);_

—– _what Gendo and SEELE were really up to, and why;_

—– _the identity of the soul housed within Unit 00;_

—– _what the Lance of Longinus was, and where it came from;_

—– _and why there are apparently no therapists on staff at NERV._

— _The TARDIS would be out of commission for the vast majority of the story, for reasons that would be explained... but also because denying the Doctor its capabilities makes for a more interesting story, in my opinion._

_Since - from what I understand - these are fandoms without a whole lot of overlap, I'm curious to see if there's even an audience for this kind of thing. Leave a review if you're interested in where this is going._


	5. Episode 2  Part I

Series Thirty And Three-Quarters  
>Episode 2: The Sound of Distant Thunder<p>

Part I: The Police Box Behind the Anna Miller's

_"No, look, there's a blue box. It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. It can go anywhere in time and space and sometimes even where it's meant to go. And when it turns up, there's a bloke in it called The Doctor and there will be stuff wrong and he will do his best to sort it out and he will probably succeed cos he's awesome. Now sit down, shut up, and watch 'Blink.'"_  
>- author Neil Gaiman on <em>Doctor Who<em>

**Another place. Earlier.**

_The Doctor stood in the control room, staring into the air. The cloister bell started to ring._

_"No," he said, and pulled the lever._

_His mind was in turmoil, but he knew this much:_ No one else_. No one else would pay for his mistakes. No one else would suffer or die because of him today. This ended - right here, right now._

_It was a rift this time. A tear in reality straight into the Void, it looked like. Bit larger than Belgium. It was still forming on Mars, at the center of the casual breach - but soon enough it'd be heading straight to Earth, right on his trail. If he intercepted it in orbit, though..._

**City of New Tokyo-3. August 2015.**

The Doctor had recently developed the habit of talking to himself. Hardly the healthiest of habits, he knew - but he just go so bored, _not_ talking all the time now.

He could feel it coming on before it started - an itching disapproval in the back of his mind. He sighed. "Right. If you've got something to say, just say it."

He switched into a rough Lancashire accent. "So you just left him there, did you?"

The Doctor went back to his own Estuary English - well, Rose's, technically. "In his apartment, yeah. Take it you have a better idea?"

"Of course I do!" His Ninth incarnation crossed his arms. "Not that that's saying much, mind you."

The Doctor was standing on the roof of a one-level grocery store in the older section of town, where he'd rigged up a few more energy collectors. He'd kept them in passive mode ever since the attack on the train, of course - which was a bit like trying to fill a swimming pool with a thimble, really, but he couldn't risk the collector being the factor that had allowed that... _entity_ to manifest. Below him, his TARDIS sat in the alleyway behind the store, hidden between two dumpsters that belonged to the diner next door. (Oh, what was the place called - it was one of the American ones, with the waitresses and the uniforms. He'd only seen the sign maybe five minutes ago, flew straight out of his head...)

"So what would you have had me do?" the Doctor snapped. "Just leave him there alone on the park bench? In the middle of an invasion?"

"_I_ would have left him by the train." His Third incarnation pulled up his cloak in irritation. "The situation was under control. The authorities were on their way. You should have let the matter rest there."

"Oh, the _authorities_!" The Doctor kicked an errant soda can across the rooftop. "Because they so _obviously_ have his best interests in mind, do they?"

"And you do?" The Third retorted. "Skulking about on the backroads? Playing at therapist?"

The Doctor looked at him in disbelief. "So you would have had me say _nothing?_"

"Exactly."

The Doctor shook his head. "I can't believe I'm hearing this. Back me up here, will you?"

"We couldn't have just left the boy there," his Fifth incarnation said quietly. "Not in that psychological state. It wouldn't have been right."

"Need I remind you gentlemen that this is _not_ our reality?" The Third pointed his finger towards the sky - where, far above the city, the dimensional rift twisted and gyrated and skittered about in nonsensical patterns. "Don't you think we've already done enough damage here? This state of permanent summer these islands are in, for one - the people of this planet blame it on that Second Impact event. But you know as well as I that it's the Void. Pouring in the energies of a thousand dying universes, raising global temperatures. The biosphere here may never recover. The sooner we get the TARDIS operational and seal the rift, the better!"

"See, _that_ we can agree on," said the Doctor. "Which is why - wait. Wait, hold on. Is that singing?" He shot a look at his Second incarnation. "That isn't you again, is it?"

The Second shook his head and pointed upwards.

The Doctor looked up. Above his head - above the city - an immense crystal the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza floated across the sky. It made a strange chiming noise as it moved, which sounded vaguely like the cries of a distant chorus.

The Doctor stood alone on the rooftop. "Yeah." He swallowed. "That... doesn't look good."


	6. Episode 2  Part II

Episode 2: The Sound of Distant Thunder  
>Part II: The Bearer of Instructions<p>

**NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma. Underneath Tokyo-3.**

_POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER  
>(also known as shell shock, traumatic war neuroses and post-traumatic shock syndrome.) A disease linked to anxiety. It can develop when people are severely harmed or experience something extremely upsetting. For PTSD to be diagnosed, a person must meet the following criteria:<br>1) exposure to a traumatic event, or series of traumatic events;  
>2) re-experiencing of the event, either through nightmares or flashbacks;<br>3) phobic avoidance of things which remind the person of the trauma;  
>4) problems with sleeping, concentration, or anger management;<br>5) decreased productivity due to all or some of the above symptoms._

_(c) FreeHyperDictionary Japan, 2013._

Shinji stared at the laptop screen. Well, he thought. At least that explained some things.

He was sitting in the stairwell outside of the Evangelion hanger, waiting for them to call him in, his school computer balanced on his knees. In the week since the train, this was the first piece of information he'd been able to find on that thing the Doctor had mentioned.

He wondered what you were supposed to do about this sort of thing, once you had it.

* * *

><p>Inside of NERV Command, one of the smaller monitors displayed the live security feed from inside the stairwell. Misato kept in the corner of her eye.<p>

Ritsuko - that was to say, _Doctor_ Ritsuko Akagi, PhD. two or three times over, Commander-Director, NERV Scientific Research and Development Division - noticed, of course. "I've been meaning to ask," she said. "Has he mentioned anything else about the incident on the train?"

Misato sighed. "Not a word. Didn't I tell you? First thing he did when he woke up was ask me about Article 40. Clammed up right after I explained it to him."

"Mmh. So he's trying to protect the people he met on the train."

"Bingo." Misato scratched between her ribs. Her scars had started to itch again recently. "Seriously, I don't know what the Commander was thinking when he requested that part of the law. Didn't he know that it would just create issues like this?"

"I'm sure he had his reasons at the time."

Misato glanced back at the security monitor. One of the Eva techs stuck his head into the stairwell. Shinji started to pack up his things. "It just seems... unnecessary, that's all. Burdening him with something else."

Ritsuko gave her a small smile. "You know that it can't be helped."

"Yeah, well..." Scratching just made the scar itch worse, actually. She scratched it again, anyway. "I wonder about that sometimes."

"Of course you do," Ritsuko said. "That's just human nature. The heart pulls us in its own direction, even as the brain tells us what must be done."

Misato grunted. Classic Ritsuko - getting all profound to avoid actually saying anything. "Anyway, it's not like it really matters, right? We got pretty much the whole story from the other passengers."

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Lieutenant Hyuga looked up at her from his station. "The pilot has boarded Eva Unit 1. Final checklist underway."

"Right." Misato turned back to the big picture. Game time.

Her hand brushed the weathered metal cross around her neck. God forgive her... it was game time.

* * *

><p>The Doctor paced around the TARDIS' control room, flipping the occassional switch, the sound of a dozen chattering voices in the background. He'd linked poor Kotono's radio into the console. It hadn't had access to the higher encrypted frequencies, of course. Fortunately, he'd managed to dig up a broken coffee maker and a nearly-fresh egg from the trash bins outside. A few simple circuits later, and he more or less had full access to all military wireless traffic within the city - not to mention two the local pay-per-view movie channels (both of which unfortunately tended to focus on... <em>dodgier<em> material. And not the funny kind, either.)

"Oi," the Ninth said sharply. "I'm not finished with you yet."

The Doctor sighed. "Yeah, I was afraid of that."

The Ninth glared at him from the other side of the console. (Well, he didn't _really_. He wasn't really there, of course - none of his past incarnations were. They were just figments of the Doctor's imagination, old memories and old selves given voice. A simple enough mental technique. The real trick, of course, was getting them to shut up again.)

The Doctor pulled up a scan on the console's monitor. "So what's your problem now, eh? Am I wasting valuable time keeping an eye on the big floating crystal thing right above my head?"

"Just one conversation isn't going to be enough to help that kid," the Ninth said. "Not with what he's been through. You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah, well, one conversation's the best I got in me right now." The Doctor stopped and look at his past self. "Hold on. Does that mean you don't agree with Mr. Ruffled Shirt back there?"

"Of course not!" the Ninth snapped.

"So why'd you let him take over?"

"I didn't! He..." The Ninth folded his arms defensively. "He... might have threatened to hit me a bit."

The Doctor groaned. "I swear. It's like having a kindergarden inside my head." The monitor screen bleeped. The Doctor looked at it. "Oh, that is not good. That is the definition of not good."

"_If_ we could get back to the matter at hand -?"

"Sorry. So what are you saying? That I should stay here and fix everything? Even with the Void and all?"

"No." The Ninth leaned forward. "I'm saying _take him back with us._"

The Doctor stared at him. "I'd be sealing off the rift behind me. He'd never be able to come back. He'd be leaving behind everyone he's ever known - everyone he _could_ have known."

The Ninth snorted. "Fat lot of good they're doing for him now, wouldn't you say?"

"Fine, all right." The Doctor flipped another switch and set off another scan. At least, he was pretty sure that was what that switch did. "But what if the woman on the train was right? What if this Earth's dead without him?"

"Then let it die." The Ninth's voice was as cold as winter. "Do you really think a world that puts children on the front lines deserves to be saved?"

"Yes," the Doctor said without hesitation. "And so do you. Don't even bother pretending otherwise."

The Ninth grimaced and looked away. "Yeah, all right. Just thought someone had to say it, that's all."

The Doctor turned back to the console. "Besides, even if I did take him back, they'd probably just find someone else to take his place. Like that girl. No matter what we do, we'd be leaving someone here to suffer."

"So stay, then," his Fourth incarnation said. "The rift's not going anywhere. With a little effort, I'm sure I could have this whole thing wrapped up within a week."

"One week? You think?"

"Oh, I said one week for _me_." The Fourth drew up his scarf around his neck. "For you, I would hazard more along the lines of a month."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Right. Of course."

"Are you seriously considering this madness?" The Third had never been in the habit of raising his voice. He instead had a certain dangerous gleam in his eyes that the Doctor knew all too well. "With two realities on the verge of tearing apart?"

The Doctor couldn't quite meet his gaze. "We're just talking options. That's all. Nothing's been decided."

"Parallel worlds," the Third said, disgust in his voice. "Like gingerbread houses, every one. Is meddling in the affairs of one universe not enough for the Time Lord Victorious?"

The Doctor turned and stared at him, right in the eye. "That's enough. Just because _you_ failed that once doesn't mean I have to."

"And how convenient for you, eh?" His Seventh incarnation stood by the console. "After all, let's call a card an ace, shall we? Finding a whole alternate world you need to fix right at this moment. Nothing we're avoiding back in our own rrreality, are we?" He knocked the handle of his umbrella against the central column - four times.

The Doctor flinched. "I didn't ask for this, you know," he said. "I didn't go looking for this. Not this time. I just figured, oh, hey, fourteen-year-old boy sitting by himself on the train, big ol' cloud of angst over his head. Probably a girl, right? - Or a boy. Or a sentient fungus. Whichever. I can fix that, right? I'm a good listener. I can give advice. But no, he's just _got_ to be the latest recruit to the Joseph Kony giant robot brigade!"

The Seventh shrugged. "True. Which leaves the question -"

A woman's voice echoed out over the radio. "Evangelion Unit One. Launch!"

The Doctor turned to his past self. "Hold that thought. I want to see this." He grabbed the radio off the console and ran outside.

* * *

><p>By the time the Doctor had climbed back onto the rooftop, he could already hear sirens going off in the distance. There was the distant sound of hydraulics moving and earth shifting. Then the Evangelion simply popped out of the ground - about seven or eight blocks to the north, if the Doctor had to guess.<p>

"Blimey," the Doctor whispered to himself. "They don't do things by halves around here, do they?" It was massive, a huge armored giant just short of the height of St. Paul's Cathedral (not the first one, the second one, the one they'd had Chris Wren build after the fire - well, or the exact reconstruction they'd put in as part of that mall on Europa). There seemed to be a certain litheness to its frame that shouldn't have been possible with Earth-level materials... well, unless they'd already figured out how to mass-manufacture carbon nanotubes. The Doctor would have to take a closer look to be sure -

He felt an energy buildup behind him. He swung around and saw the crystal, hanging in the sky. "Oh, no. No no no no - get him out of there, get _out_, _run_ -"

There was a flash of light. A vast beam of energy swept out from the Angel, tore through a skyscraper, and blanketed the Evangelion. The armor started to boil away. Over the radio, the Doctor heard Shinji _scream_, like he'd been dropped into molten lead...

There was nothing he could do. The Doctor couldn't think of a single thing he could do. Couldn't deflect or mold the beam with the TARDIS - didn't have the power for that yet. If he could get to the launchpad and do something - but he'd never make it in time. He - he couldn't -

Something far away exploded. The Evangelion dropped back into the ground. The Doctor stood on the rooftop, gripping the radio in his hand, and listened as, somewhere below the earth's surface, the boy continued to scream in agony...

* * *

><p>There was a difference between understanding an atrocity in theory and seeing it in practice. The Doctor knew that lesson well. But every now and again, it took something <em>special<em> to remind him of it.

He sat in the TARDIS, staring at nothing in particular. He'd left the radio on. All around him, voices talked and planned and reported and informed. He didn't really pay attention to any of it.

"They did it," the Fifth said, his voice hollow. "They actually did it. They sent a child out to die."

"Weren't they all children, compared to us?" the Doctor asked himself softly. "All the ones we let die for us. For our mistakes. Do we really get to say that we're any better?"

"We never would have asked that of them," the Fifth replied, a flash of steel in his eyes. "And we _never_ would have left them to suffer. Not if there was a single thing we could do to help it."

In the background, there was the screech of a fax machine. The radio picked it up and shunted it over to the console screen, where, line by line, a document began to appear:

_»  
>CLASSIFIED: LEVEL TIFERET<em>

_BRIEFING: OPERATION YASHIMA [NERVCOM]_

_MISSION:  
>The objective of the operation is to destroy enemy target designated RAMIEL using the JSSDF prototype positron cannon. At 1830 hours tomorrow, EVA UNIT 0 (pilot: Rei Ayanami) and EVA UNIT 1 (pilot: Shinji Ikari; currently in medical recovery, to be ready no later than 1700 hours) will be deployed to sniper position on Mount Futagoyama. Utilizing the entire power output of the National Grid of Japan, Unit 1 will neutralize the target's defenses and destroy it using the cannon. The following arrangements are being made at this time...<br>»_

The Doctor rubbed his eyes. "I should go," he said. "I really, really should go."

Someone knocked four times. The Doctor jumped to his feet around. "Stop it!" he shouted, letting the rage into his voice. "You've made your point! Just _stop_!"

But the Seventh wasn't there. The Doctor stood alone in the control room. There was another knock on the TARDIS' door.

The Doctor froze. He'd kept the perception filter up. He was sure of it. No one should have been able to notice the TARDIS, let alone -

He picked up his screwdriver and went to the door. Carefully, he unlocked it, and peered out into the night.

There was no one there. There was, however, a small piece of paper lying on the ground by his feet. The Doctor bent down and picked it up. In small, precise letters - in English, in a handwriting he didn't recognize - it said:

_You know who you are._

The Doctor stared out into the early morning darkness. "Yeah," he said quietly. "Suppose that I do."


	7. Episode 2  Part III

Episode 2: The Sound of Distant Thunder  
>Part III: The Oncoming Storm<p>

**Mount Futagoyama. Outside of Tokyo-3.**

He could feel the pain in his own arms. The heat rising from what remained of the mountain the enemy had _burned through_ to reach him. Inside of the entry plug within Eva Unit 1, Shinji hugged himself tightly. He could hear Misato and his father arguing about something over the radio. He wasn't really listening.

I'm probably going to have those flashback things about this, aren't I, he thought. If I live through this.

He couldn't take this anymore. He just couldn't -

There was a burst of static from the radio. The chatter in the background went silent. A soft voice said: "Shinji? Shinji, can you hear me?"

Shinji raised his head. "Doctor?" he asked in surprise.

**City Sewers, Tokyo-3**

"Shinji, listen to me." The Doctor finished wiring the power line from the TARDIS into the main transformer. He held the screwdriver up to the connection, radio gripped in between his shoulder and the side of his face. "Your friend's very clever, but her plan isn't going to work. It's _seen you coming_ - it's generating a hypercompressed positively-charged electric field around its heart. Those positrons are going to bounce right off unless we do something!"

"Do what?" Shinji sounded a bit dazed.

The Doctor scrambled back up the sewer ladder, out the open manhole cover and back onto the street, where he sprinted for the TARDIS back in the alleyway. "I'm going to send you some rift energy through the city power grid. If your" - he really didn't want to say _gun_ - "_emitter_ works the way I think it does, it should reverse the polarity on the ions long enough for you to get through. But that's not the important thing."

"It isn't?"

The Doctor ran back into the TARDIS. He gripped the edge of the console, trying to catch his breath. "The important thing is," he gasped out, "is that I spent most of today trying to talk to it. To get it to leave on its own. Tried everything I could think of - radio waves, psychic broadcast, mauve semaphore flags. Either it's not listening or it's too alien for even _me_ to communicate with right now. It's left you with no choice."

"Wh - why does that matter?"

"Because you're a _human being_, not a weapon!" The Doctor threw the switch.

**NERV Monitor Satellite 18, Low-Earth Orbit, Over the East China Sea**

There were many different eyes watching Japan from above. This particular satellite had an excellent wide-angle view of the islands. The cameras watched as, for the briefest of moments, the lights of Japan flickered back on, as the excess power jumped the switches...

**The TARDIS, Tokyo-3**

The lights in the control room dimmed. "I'm sorry!" the Doctor shouted. "This is the best I can do right now! It's all up to you! If you can think of just one person in this city that's worth saving - just one - _take the shot!_"

**Outside Tokyo-3**

Shinji thought of Toji, and Kensuke, and Misato, and even Ayanami. He thought about the candy bar.

He reached out and took the controls.

The Eva started to crawl forward, towards the half-melted rifle. There was a burst of static. The NERV command channel came back on. Shinji tried to wipe the tears out of his eyes. "One more shot," he said, his teeth chattering. "Please. Just let me take one more shot."

* * *

><p><strong>Tokyo-3 First Municipal Middle School. Late August 2015.<strong>

It was strange how the world worked, Shinji thought.

He stared out the window of his classroom at the corpse of the Angel in the distance, nestled amid the cranes and skyscrapers, where it had fallen. Less than a week before, he'd been sitting in the Eva, waiting for the targeting system to align, almost certain that he was about to die. Misato had let him sleep in the next day. After that, everything had gone back to normal.

He guessed that he had sort of expected everything to end, like in a movie. Something big and dramatic happens, the characters walk off into the sunset, fade to black. Instead, life just... went on. He supposed that that really shouldn't have surprised him, but there it was.

"Class, stand!" Hikari, the class representative, snapped. The other students rose from their seats. Shinji, late to react, stumbled to his feet.

"There's been a change in plans." Mr. Koike, the literature teacher, addressed them from the front of the room. "I'm happy to say that we've finally managed to find a second-year English teacher. He comes highly recommended from the university at Cambridge, so I expect that he will receive your full respect and attention."

A sudden sense of dread swept over Shinji. Somehow, he knew exactly where this was going. "Oh, _no_," he whispered under his breath.

"Lessons will commence during this next period daily for the foreseeable future, until a permanent schedule has been devised," Mr. Koike continued. "That said, it is my honor to introduce you to Mr. John Smith. Mr. Smith?"

"Good morning, class." The Doctor grinned. "Are we sitting comfortably?"

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_I'm honestly not all that familiar with the Classic Series Doctors, having only started watching during the first year of the new series in 2005. For their characterization, I am therefore heavily indebted to Rich Morris' brilliant fan webcomic "The Ten Doctors," which I highly recommend to all Who fans out there._

_While I did my best with the first story to keep things as accessible to both fandoms as possible, with this one I found I had little choice other than to toss the reader into the swimming pool of continuity and hope for the best. Fans of the Doctor should have a pretty clear idea of what's going on, I think. As for Eva fans... well, I'll explain later. (And let's be honest here - if you really had a problem with things that weren't explained immediately... or, you know,_ ever _- would you really be Eva fans?)_


	8. Episode 3 Part I

Series Thirty And Three-Quarters  
>Episode 3: Jet Alone<p>

Part I: Are you human? Y/N

**Tokyo-3 First Municipal Middle School. Late August 2015.**

"Good morning, class. Are we sitting comfortably?"

There was a moment of silence. "Sir, we're... standing, actually," Hikari finally said.

"Ah. So you are." The Doctor glanced to the side as Mr. Koike left the room. "You can stop that now, I think."

The class sat down. Shinji sunk down into his seat. This was bad, he thought. This was very bad. The train had been one thing. The transmission in the Eva the other day - well, actually, he'd been wondering if he'd just hallucinated that or something. It wasn't like someone could just break into a military channel, right?

But now the Doctor had somehow followed him to school. _Creepy_ did not begin to describe the situation. Neither did _weird_.

"So, English!" The Doctor took off his coat and threw it onto the teacher's chair. "English, English, English. Right. Let's see what you know. Can anyone tell me the full English alphabet? Song optional?"

No one said anything. The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "No one? Really?"

"Err, Mr. Smith?" Kensuke stood up awkwardly. "We... don't actually raise our hands here. You're supposed to call on us with questions."

The Doctor grimaced. "Oh, right. Japan. Thank you." He picked up the class roster. "Okay, in that case, let's go with -"

Shinji gripped the sides of his desk. Oh, God, he's going to call on me, he thought. Please don't. Please don't. Please don't -

"- Ms. Ayanami!"

Shinji glanced over his shoulder. Behind him, Rei Ayanami - the only other Evangelion pilot in the city - silently rose to her feet. Her pale face revealed absolutely no emotion. She was - with the possible exception of the Doctor - the strangest person Shinji had ever met. In the month since he'd arrived, he'd only seen her smile twice: once when talking to his father, the other on request.

She'd also slapped him that one time. Which was okay. He was pretty sure he'd deserved it - though he wasn't quite sure what for.

"So, Ms. Ayanami," the Doctor said. "Can you tell me the English alphabet, in order?"

"No," Rei said.

The Doctor nodded. "All right. Fair enough. Do you know any words in English? Doesn't have to be anything complicated - 'hello,' 'goodbye,' 'happy birthday' -"

"I don't know."

"Hmmm." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. He gave Rei a quizzical look. "Don't suppose you could tell me the First Law of Robotics?"

Someone in the class giggled nervously. Rei stared at the Doctor. She said nothing.

"Right, never mind, just wondering. Thank you, Ms. Ayanami. You can take your seat again." The Doctor turned to the chalkboard. "Starting from scratch, then. No problem. So, English! Bit of a mess of a language, all things considered. But that's what you get when you leave Norse and Saxon and Celtic to stew on a little island for a few hundred years. And French, of course - you can thank old King William for that one. Bit of a hard man to like, Willy. Your standard feudal overlord type. Had something of - well, let's call it a _weight problem_... Dead shot with a longbow, though. Have to give him that..."

* * *

><p>"That," Kensuke declared. "Was. AWESOME."<p>

"Geez, are you kidding me?" Toji snorted. "I couldn't event tell what that skinny idiot was talking about half the time."

"You just need to develop a proper respect for history," Kensuke said primly.

Shinji walked with his friends down the school corridor for lunch. He had friends now. He was still getting used to that idea.

"And that's another thing that bugs me!" Toji opened the door to the stairwell. "What the hell does he think he's doing, teaching history in an English class? Did he even say if any of that crap was going to be on the test?"

"Shh!" Kensuke pointed up.

Shinji looked. The Doctor was standing on the staircase a floor above them. He looked down directly at Shinji. Shinji avoided his gaze. The Doctor raised an eyebrow - as if to say, _really?_ - then turned and walked up the stairs towards the roof.

"Crap, do you think he heard me?" Toji whispered.

"I think they heard you in Okinawa," Kensuke said.

Shinji swallowed. I mustn't run away, he thought. Something had to be said.

"Hey, guys?" he asked. "If I - say I went missing or something today. You'd tell Misato if that happened, right?"

Toji stared at him. "Huh?"

"Well, _yeah_, duh," Kensuke said, as if it was the most natural request in the world. "How long do you need before we report in? Two hours? Three?"

"Just - call her if you don't see me in class after lunch, all right?"

"Sure."

"Okaaaaayyy..." Toji said, still staring at Shinji.

"Thanks. It's probably nothing. There's just something I need to take care of." Shinji took a deep breath, then started to climb up the stairs after the Doctor.

* * *

><p>The first thing Shinji heard when he stepped out onto the roof was a familiar buzzing sound. The Doctor stood by the edge of the rooftop, pointing that screwdriver thingy towards the ground. Specifically, at Rei, who was sitting and reading a book by herself on a bench by the playground. The Doctor brought the device up and stared at the clear plastic bit. "What," he said. "<em>What.<em>"

Shinji wasn't sure if the Doctor's sudden interest in the girl made him feel less or _more_ disturbed. "I'm sorry, but you know that looks kind of weird, right?"

The Doctor shrugged and pocketed the screwdriver. "She's not an android," he said. "In case you were wondering."

"Was... that an option?"

"'Course it is. You've got giant robots, don't you? Why not androids?" The Doctor thought for a second. "Well, gynoids. She would've been a gynoid, technically, not an android. 'Cause she's a she. Well, not that gender isn't optional when it comes to most mechanical species. Mind you, they _do_ seem to have fun with it. Once visited a planet where they'd invented sixty-four genders. Would've had more, too, but they wound up having to cap it there. Something about issues with _backwards compatibility_..."

"Look," Shinji finally broke in. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, teaching," the Doctor said airily. "What, that wasn't obvious in class?"

"Why?"

"Told you, I'm stuck here for the time being. Ride's out of order. Not to mention, I just threw most of the power I'd collected to you during the attack last week - you're welcome, by the way - so I've got to start all over again. Need something to keep myself from getting bored in the meantime, saw the job ad, figured sure, why not?"

"And you're actually a teacher?" asked Shinji. "With - like - references and security clearance and everything?"

"Sure, why not? See for yourself." The Doctor tossed Shinji a faded leather wallet.

Shinji opened it and looked inside. There was a piece of paper glued to the inner pocket. "It's blank," he said.

"It _is_?" The Doctor looked surprised. He grinned. "Now, that's interesting. That is _first-class_ interesting. Last fellow I had that problem with - well, let's just say he made a bit of a name for himself."

Shinji shook his head. He held out the wallet. "Look," he said. "I'm sorry I didn't say before. I - Thank you for your help. On the train. And with everything. But I don't need - I just - there's a lot going on right now, and I - I -"

"Keep going," the Doctor said encouragingly. "Take it slow."

Why did this have to be so difficult for him? Shinji took a deep breath and said, "I just don't need to be followed around by some sort of... kind lunatic."

"Kind lunatic?" The Doctor laughed. "I _like_ that! I should put that on my business card. Well, if I _had_ a business card." He scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "I'm in Japan. I should get business cards."

"But - do you see what I'm saying?" Shinji pleaded.

"Look, really, it's all right." The Doctor held up his hands. "I promise, I won't say a word to you outside of class if you don't want me to. Or to Miss Ayanami, if you prefer. Scout's honour." Shinji relaxed a little. "That said, though - just so you know - my door is always open. If you ever need someone to talk to - well. Just consider me a resource you have access to. An advisor, if you like."

Shinji narrowed his eyes. "An advisor on what?"

"Well, all sorts of things, really." The Doctor brushed a spare bit of lint off of his coat sleeve. "I'm a fair cook. Halfway-decent plumber. Was an internationally-ranked ballroom dancer at one point - sort of let that lapse, mind you. But what I'm really good at - well, among other things, 'cause I'm me - is _questions_. Great, big, stinking unanswered questions. Just like the ones you're surrounded with."

"Like what?"

"Like who exactly you're fighting, for one thing." The Doctor looked at Shinji. "And for another, _just what exactly it is you're piloting._"

Shinji looked away. He had a point.

"They haven't told you anything, have they? Not anything worth a damn, anyway. But you have been wondering, haven't you?"

"Of course I have!" Shinji heard the indignant tone in his own voice and tried to regain his composure. He was technically speaking to a teacher, after all. "I mean - it's hard to think about that sort of thing when you're just trying to survive, that's all. And it's not like they're just going to tell me everything."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," the Doctor said. "Now, whether or not you can trust what they say, that's another matter. I can help you sort it all out. Or not - it's up to you. The truth can be painful to know sometimes. But if I were the one being expected to risk my life on a regular basis - being expected to _kill_ - I'd at least want to know _why_."

Shinji stared off into the distance.

"Besides," the Doctor added. "While I'm at it, might be able to give you a few pointers on my other little specialty."

"What's that?"

"Saving planets, mostly."

Shinji sighed and gave in. While the Doctor was obviously insane, he at least didn't seem to be the axe-murderer kind of crazy, or worse. "So is it Doctor Smith, then?" he asked.

"Nahhh." The Doctor waved his hand dismissively. "Still just the Doctor. John Smith's just what I use on forms. Though will say, it's a bit of a laugh when those automated marketing systems call up and ask if _the_ is around."

The school's clock struck the half-hour. The lunch period was nearly over. "I'd better go," Shinji said. "I should probably stop my friends from calling the police or something."

"Right. I won't keep you." Shinji turned to leave. The Doctor raised a finger. "Though - one last thing. Piece of advice? Do yourself a favor. No matter what you do, keep your eyes open. Even if you're running away. Even if what you see hurts or doesn't make sense - because you might just figure it out someday. Look for the things other people don't notice - the things they take for granted, or don't talk about, or don't think of. And whatever you do, don't let anyone tell you what to think."

"Including you?"

The Doctor smiled. "_Especially_ me. Unless your life depends on it. Which, to be honest, does happen on a fairly frequent basis. But don't let me hold you up. Off you go, then."

Shinji shook his head and walked away. He supposed that made about as much sense as anything else did in his life.


	9. Episode 3 Part II

Series Thirty And Three-Quarters  
>Episode 3: Jet Alone<p>

Part II: On Your Mark

**NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma**

_A.T. FIELD  
>The Evangelion is capable of generating the effect currently classified as an "a.t. field," a kinetic physical barrier capable of blocking all known forms of attack. It can also breach or cancel out a.t. fields generated by the enemy. The Evangelion is currently the only weapon in humanity's arsenal capable of generating an a.t. field.<br>Despite extensive testing, the full capabilities of this feature are as of yet not completely understood. Nonetheless, rough estimates of the field's strength in various configurations can be made as follows..._

Shinji flipped through the NERV manual as Misato and the others on the lift chatted about budgets. It was kind of amazing, honestly, how so many pages and words could reveal so little. Nothing on where the Eva came from, or what the Angels were, or how they managed to generate this AT field thing where nothing else could. For that matter, how had NERV even known what the Angels were capable of before the first one had shown up in Tokyo-3?

* * *

><p>"We knew about it from Second Impact, of course," Ritsuko said brusquely. Shinji stood just behind her and Misato as the elevator carried them upwards.<p>

Shinji tried his best to keep up. "So you're saying that what actually vaporized Antarctica was..."

"Fifteen years ago, humanity discovered the first of the creatures we call Angels buried in Antartica. In the middle of the investigation, for some unknown reason, it self-destructed, taking the entire continent with it. The Evangelions were constructed as mankind's response to that incident, based on what data we were able to recover."

Was it just him, or did Misato have a strange look on her face? Like she was thinking about something, or maybe trying very hard _not_ to think about something. Shinji looked back to Ritsuko. "Then, the things that we're doing here..."

"Are intended to avoid a probable Third Impact and the extinction of the human race." Ritsuko's voice had a clinical, practiced tone, like she'd said those exact words many times before. "Now, does that answer your question?"

"Err, sort of," said Shinji. "So why do all the history textbooks say it was caused by a meteorite?"

Ritsuko shrugged. "As is often the case, the true facts were concealed."

"But why? I mean, wouldn't it have been easier just to tell everyone the truth?" Shinji hesitated for a second. "And if the Angels are capable of doing something like that, why haven't they just done it to us already? Why are they even giving us the chance to fight them?"

Ritsuko turned to Misato. "By the way, that event will be going forward tomorrow."

Misato nodded, her mind clearly still somewhere else.

* * *

><p><strong>Above Old Tokyo. The next day.<strong>

"It's called Jet Alone."

Shinji sat in the back cabin of the aircraft, bewildered. One moment, he'd been in school; the next, he'd been rushed out of class by five NERV agents, driven to an airfield, loaded onto a huge jet with his Eva - which he hadn't even known they could do, he'd never realized they even _made_ planes that large. And now Misato was showing him a photo of a blocky-looking robot that wouldn't have looked out of place in a cheap forty-year-old science fiction movie.

"It's an experimental weapons platform developed by Japan Heavy Chemical Industries." Misato tugged on the thumb of her glove. She was wearing an odd getup that resembled some kind of spacesuit. "Thirty minutes ago, it went out of control during testing and is no longer responding to radio control. To make matters worse, its onboard nuclear reactor is overheating."

"Nuclear reactor?" Shinji asked, dumbstruck. "Aren't those illegal?"

Misato waved off the question. "The company got special dispensation from the government. We're looking at a possible meltdown within the next fifteen minutes. We need to stop it and shut it down before it gets too close to a populated area. Lieutenant?"

"Ma'am?" Lieutenant Hyuga said from the cockpit.

"You're to insert Eva Unit 1 nearby the target, then ascend to the safe zone and await further orders."

"Yes, ma'am!"

She turned to Shinji. "Don't worry about the drop. The Type G equipment will take care of everything automatically. Just don't panic and you'll be fine. We'll have about five minutes once we're on the ground. Deploy your AT field, then catch up to the target."

"Yes, ma'am," Shinji said. "Do you want me to... I don't know... try to leg sweep it or something?"

"We can't risk damaging the reactor. You're to drop off a secondary asset, then just do your best to slow it down."

"A secondary asset?"

"That'd be me." She picked up the suit's helmet and slung it under her arm. "There's a hatch on the target's back. I have the passwords necessary to get inside and completely wipe its programming. The reactor should automatically scram itself afterwards."

"But - that's crazy!"

She shrugged. "We don't have any other options. Don't worry about the radiation. Worse case scenario, the AT field will protect you from anything."

"I'm not worried about _me_! What about you?"

Misato grinned. There was a strange gleam in her eye that reminded Shinji of the Doctor. "It can't be helped. I have to do what I can. Otherwise, I'll regret it forever."

Shinji stared at her, his mouth open. He couldn't think of a single thing to say.

She put the helmet on and sealed it. "So - what's the first thing you do when we're on the ground?"

Shinji swallowed. "D-Deploy the AT field."

She smiled at him through the faceplate. "Good man."

* * *

><p><strong>Old Tokyo<strong>

Something was wrong. That was Shinji's first thought.

The jolt when the Eva hit the ground wasn't as big as he'd expected. He could see the target in the distance, lumbering through the mud flats and ruined buildings. He nervously glanced down at the Eva's right hand. "Misato?"

"I'm fine!" She stood up on the Eva's palm, holding onto its thumb for support. "Go!"

Gripping Misato as gently as he could, Shinji pushed Unit 1 into a sprint. The Eva dashed forward and immediately started to gain ground.

Something was wrong, he thought. Something _felt_ wrong, though he couldn't put his finger on what. Not that he expected dumping a friend into a walking deathtrap to feel _right_, of course, but... He flicked a switch on his control grip. One of the Eva's secondary cameras zoomed in on the fast-approaching target as it strode through a half-eroded parking garage.

Wait... Was it just him, or did the concrete seem to somehow _shift_ out of the foot's way before it even landed?

On his left, he saw a faded, half-collapsed old billboard extolling the virtues of the new PlayStation 2. He reached out with the Eva's free hand as he passed by and ripped it off its rusted moorings.

"Shinji?" said Misato. "What are you doing? We need to stick to the plan!"

"Just want to see something," Shinji mumbled. He skidded the Eva to a halt and threw the sign at the hulking metal figure in front of him.

"What - WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Misato exploded. "YOU IDIOT! YOU'LL DAMAGE -"

The billboard flew threw the air, straight at the robot's back...

... And bounced off of a glowing yellow symbol that suddenly appeared in mid-air, right in front of it.

There was a stunned pause. "Wait," Misato said. "Was that a -"

* * *

><p><strong>Jet Alone Mission Control Center, Japan Heavy Chemical Industries Edogawa Facility<strong>

" - an AT field?" Ritsuko pushed a heavyset technician out of her way and stared into the monitor.

* * *

><p>Jet Alone stopped in its tracks. It slowly turned around.<p>

Its torso crumpled inwards like a crushed beer can. Steam erupted from its shoulders and back. Its arms suddenly warped and snaked outwards, its hands and fingers disappearing into single sharpened points. The center of its chest caved in to form a hole, reaching deep into the thing's body. And just below its head, a pointed symbol that looked like the skull of a bird shaped itself out of the metal...

* * *

><p>Throughout the half-collapsed control room, alarms screamed and gauges went red. Ritsuko stared at the video feed, her eyes wide.<p>

"Oh - oh, God." Mr. Tokita, chief executive of the Jet Alone project, hugged his stomach, his face pale. "It's an Angel. How could it be an Angel?"

"Supercritical state reached!" one of the technicians shouted. "Reactor temperature at three hundred percent of operational limit and rising!"

* * *

><p>Shinji backed away from Jet Alone as the air around the robot started to glow blue.<p>

Misato said, "Shi-"

That was all she had time for. The eyes of the metal skull flashed. A massive burst of fire leapt out from the thing's heart and consumed the Eva in an instant.

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_Sorry for all the recapping, Eva fans. I felt compelled to try and clue in Whovians - Whoites? Whomans? - on the full nature of the situation. In exchange for your patience, I'll let you in on one of the continuity jokes here: the thing that the Doctor hands Shinji is called psychic paper. And the last person it didn't work on was William Shakespeare._

_Your homework for next time: as of right now, the Doctor is probably the sanest, most well-adjusted person in Shinji's life. Think about that. Carefully._


	10. Episode 4 Part I

Episode 4: The Walking Devastation  
>Part I: The Guardian of Eden<p>

**Old Tokyo**

The blinding light cleared. Shinji could see the comforting glow of the Eva's AT field around him. Thank you, Misato, he thought. Thank God you reminded me.

Jet Alone raised up one of its arms - well, tentacles, now. Shinji leapt back. The metal appendage slammed into the ground where his Eva had been standing.

"Shinji!" Misato yelled out over the radio. He glanced down and saw her clinging to the Eva's fingers. "Is your AT field at full power?"

"I think so!" Shinji dodged as the Angel lunged at him again.

"Get ready to play dead!" He heard Misato press a button. "Makoto! Did you bring along that tactical N2 mine I asked you about?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Lieutenant Hyuga said.

"Lock to my location and fire!"

"What? But, ma'am -"

The Angel fired off another blast. Though the AT field took the brunt of it, Shinji could still feel the leftover heat on the Eva's skin. Like sticking his hand into a boiling pot.

"THAT'S AN ORDER, LIEUTENANT!" Misato bellowed. "FIRE!"

Shinji's brain finally caught up with the conversation. "Oh, no." He crouched the Eva down and held Misato close to its chest, covering her with its free hand. Everything went white.

* * *

><p>So that was what being bombed felt like. Shinji didn't like it.<p>

He opened his eyes when the entry plug stopped shuddering like a leaf around him. The Eva was lying on the edge of a fairly significant crater, surrounded by smoke. He could just barely see the shape of Jet Alone through the smog, standing on the other side of the hole. It turned and marched away from him. Heading west again.

"Misato?" Shinji asked.

He looked over at the Eva's hand. And saw her hanging, limp and unmoving, from its fist.

"MISATO!"

That was when the Eva ran out of power. The screens around Shinji shut down. A single warning message flashed in front of him: _EXTERIOR RADIATION ABOVE SAFE LEVELS. ENTRY PLUG EJECT DISABLED._

Shinji sat in the darkness. He covered his face in his hands. "Of course," he said.

* * *

><p><strong>NERVCOM Medical Center. Underneath Tokyo-3. The next day.<strong>

Shinji woke up with a start. He was in the same place he'd been all night - curled up on one of the chairs in the waiting room outside of the observation ward, still dressed in his plug suit. He'd asked the nurses to wake him up when there was any news about Misato. He supposed they'd forgotten.

He guessed it was morning now; at least, the artificial sunlight inside the Geofront had come on. He could hear voices coming from further down the hall. He got up and padded around the corner.

He was surprised to see a large crowd of people gathered around the ward doors, all NERV staff. He saw Lieutenants Hyuga and Ibuki towards the center of the pack, their backs turned towards him. With the exception of a few hushed whispers, no one spoke.

The doors opened. Ritsuko and Misato walked out. Misato looked a little pale, but otherwise seemed fine. She stood up as straight as a ramrod, her teeth clenched, her eyes cold. The clump of people immediately separated for them, then followed as they strode down the hall. Shinji tried to say something as they passed, but it didn't really come out. He instead fell in among the crowd.

"How do you feel?" he heard Ritsuko ask.

"Pissed off," Misato snapped. "What's the situation?"

(Shinji's shoulders sagged. She's still mad at me for disobeying her orders, he thought. It was obvious.)

"Not good," Ritsuko said. "Come on. I'll brief you. There's a conference room on the next floor."

* * *

><p>They walked into what looked to Shinji like a large classroom, complete with rows of desks set on risers and a large screen in place of a chalkboard. He quietly found a place in the back.<p>

Ritsuko went to the front of the room and stuck a chip into a unit set into the wall. The lights immediately dimmed. The screen came on, an image of the NERV logo displayed at its center.

"I'll begin with a review of yesterday's events, then go to an analysis of the enemy's capabilities," she said. "At approximately 1630 hours yesterday, I assumed command of defensive operations after contact was lost with Captain Katsuragi and Eva Unit One. As reconnaissance showed that the enemy was again moving west, I ordered the Tama River flooded, in accordance with several established defense plans."

She pressed a button on a remote she held in her hand. The screen switched to video footage of several flooded city blocks, treetops and the roofs of homes just barely visible above the water's surface.

"This tactic seems to have paid off, as the enemy appears to lack flight capabilities. It was therefore forced to divert north along the river's course."

The screen switched to an aerial view of Jet Alone as it trudged along the riverbank. A halo of blue light surrounded the robot, and pieces of its metal skin appeared to be boiling. Its course was marked by an immense cloud of black ash that trailed behind it.

"What's that smoke?" Misato asked.

"Spent nuclear fuel," Ritsuko said. "The Angel appears to have the ability to both compress and filter the uranium within the reactor. It started venting the waste into the atmosphere about an hour after its encounter with Unit One yesterday."

Misato ran her hands through her hair. "Continue."

"At 1700 hours, completed recovery of Unit One. Captain Katsuragi and the pilot were evacuated for medical treatment. I ordered Eva Unit Zero deployed to the other side of the Tama with the positron rifle. Contact with the enemy was made at 1730."

The screen cut to a distant, ground-level shot of the robot. A blast of light came from outside of the frame, straight for Jet Alone's midsection. Instead of striking it, the beam split in a thousand different directions - hitting the ground, flying off into the sky, but leaving the metal figure untouched.

"The attack failed." Ritsuko adjusted her glasses. "Unit Zero then came under enemy fire. I ordered a retreat. Since then, the government has ordered full evacuations of all populated areas within the fallout radius, including Atsugi, Saitama and Yokohama. Meanwhile, JSSDF and UN forces have been in constant engagement with the enemy in an attempt to slow its progress as much as possible. Given our success with the Tama, they have also been engaged in a program of destroying the bridges and roads in the enemy's projected path."

More images flashed on the screen behind her: soldiers wearing gas masks and protective gear on the move. An exploding bridge. A column of destroyed tanks, lying burned and discarded by the side of a fractured road. Shaky handheld camera footage from a helicopter overlooking Jet Alone. The Angel turned towards the viewer. There was a flash of light and a muted scream. The video went to static.

Misato rubbed her eyes. "Where's it headed?"

"Do you even have to ask?" The screen cut to a map of the local region. A dotted black line ran through Old Tokyo, up north and through the mountains, and finally south to Tokyo-3, a blinking dot representing the enemy's current location on its route. In the lower corner, a live video feed showed Jet Alone marching through a forest, the trees slowly turning an unnatural shade of red. "At the enemy's current rate of progress, we estimate that it should be here by sometime in the early evening tonight. Any other questions before I move to analysis?"

The room fell silent. Misato finally pointed to the live feed. "Where are we getting that from?"

"We were contacted by an American research ship off the coast this morning," Lieutenant Hyuga answered. "The USNS Benjamin Franklin. They offered us the use of a prototype unmanned aerial drone to help monitor the situation. Thus far, the enemy has ignored its presence."

"Interesting." Misato folded her arms. "Is the enemy unable to detect the drone? Or does it just not see the drone as a threat?"

Lieutenant Hyuga shrugged. "Unknown."

Ritsuko coughed. "Moving on... The enemy's primary attack seems to involve using its AT field to concentrate the full output of the Jet Alone reactor - heat, light, radiation - into a single beam. While not nearly as powerful or as precise as the attack utilized by the Fifth Angel, it still remains effective against conventional targets within a similar radius. Judging from its encounter with Unit One, it has some close-combat capabilities, as well as the waste cloud...

"I won't lie." Ritsuko took off her glasses and folded them neatly in her hands. "In terms of the effect on the environment and the greater population, this is likely to be the most significant attack on humanity since Second Impact. We expect to see heavy groundwater contamination throughout the entire Kanto region. In addition, the enemy has reacted with a degree of intelligence and sophistication that we were frankly unprepared for."

"None of that will matter if we fail to defend this city." Misato cracked her knuckles. "Let's get to work."

* * *

><p>So that was it, Shinji thought as he watched the adults talk and argue. That was why Misato and everyone around him were treating him as if he were invisible: they blamed him for this. All of it. If he'd just been able to handle the problem, none of this would have happened.<p>

It was as if he was a gun that wouldn't fire, or a tool that didn't work properly. Why would anyone pay attention to a thing like that?

_Because you're a human being, not a weapon,_ he heard the Doctor say in his head. Maybe this is what the Doctor meant back then, he thought. Everyone here wants me to be a weapon, but I can't be. That's why I am hated. Shinji folded his arms and sunk down further into his chair.

Misato slammed her hand down on the table in front of her. "What if we pulled another YASHIMA?" she asked. "Put more power through the rifle?"

Ritsuko shook her head. "I don't think it would work. It didn't resist Unit Zero's attack with its AT field. It seems to have developed a new trick."

Misato made a sound of disgust and turned away.

"It's strange." Ritsuko stared off into the distance. "The way the positrons split off like that, it's as if they were responding to a very powerful electromagnetic field with a positive charge. But none of our instruments registered any change in the local magnetic flux. It's like the field was... _contained_ somehow, beyond our ability to detect."

Shinji froze. In the back of his head, he heard the Doctor's voice say: _It's generating a hypercompressed positively-charged electric field around its heart. Those positrons are going to bounce right off unless we do something!_

But... if that was real... if that had really happened... that meant...

"You have to be kidding me," he whispered.

* * *

><p>Shinji spent the rest of the hour in a daze, trying to make sense of it all and failing. As far as he could see, the entire world had finally gone completely mad around him. Up was down. Black was white. And he would never be able to understand any of it. Not in a thousand years.<p>

But through it all, there was one single, inescapable fact that he found he couldn't ignore: for the first time since he had come to Tokyo-3 - perhaps for the first time in his entire life - _there was something he could actually do to help._

Slowly, Shinji stood up and walked to the front of the room. No one seemed to notice. He pulled Ritsuko's presentation chip out of the receptacle. The plug suit didn't have any pockets, so he wrapped his hand around it. Palms sweating, he headed for the door.

"Shinji?" Lieutenant Hyuga asked. Shinji stiffened. "Where are you going? You know that you need to be ready to deploy as soon as the captain has orders."

Shinji swallowed. "I - I'll - I'll be on my cell phone. I'll be here as soon as you need me. I promise."

The lieutenant glanced back at the debate behind them. "All right. But where are you going?"

"I need to go to school," Shinji said, and fled the room.

* * *

><p><strong>Tokyo-3 First Municipal Middle School<strong>

Shinji burst into the classroom and collapsed against the frame of the door, hyperventilating, having run the entire way from the subway. In retrospect, not the best idea ever.

"Mr. Ikari!" The Doctor said cheerfully from in front of the blackboard, which currently held a sketch of the British flag, a star map, a brief description of something called the Magna Carta and a fairly good caricature of the Beatles. "Glad you could join us. Take a seat. I'll just assume your homework got eaten by a giant monster, shall I?"

"Um." Shinji looked at the Doctor. "Can - can we talk?"

* * *

><p>"A <em>walking<em> nuclear reactor?" the Doctor said, aghast. "Whose idea was that?"

They were sitting on the roof of the school, Shinji's laptop playing the briefing in front of them. (The chip hadn't actually fit into the computer's reader. Fortunately, the Doctor had managed to rig up a converter from a few bits of wire and an old set of headphones he'd had on him. Shinji hadn't known you could even _do_ something like that.)

"Some company called Japan Heavy Chemicals," Shinji said. He froze the video and pointed to the picture of Jet Alone being shot with the positron cannon. "It's doing that hypercompressed field thing you told me about. Can you do what you did back then again?"

"Can't." The Doctor pulled his hair back with both hands. "Told you, I put all the rift energy I'd collected into that attack. There's no way I'll be able to build up enough charge by the time it gets here."

Shinji slumped. "I... I see."

A gust of wind rattled the trees in the playground below, then vanished.

"It's - it's all my fault, isn't it," Shinji said quietly. "If I had stopped it yesterday, no one would be suffering now. Everyone wouldn't be blaming me for it. And if it gets here and I can't stop it then, it's going to destroy the whole country, just like Antarctica."

"It's not your fault," the Doctor said in an odd tone of voice. "And it's not as bad as it looks.

"It's worse."

Shinji looked at him. "How - how could it be _worse_?"

The Doctor stared straight upwards into the sky, his eyes wide. "Remember how I said there's a dimensional rift floating up above this city? It can be ripped open by certain kinds of high-energy particles... like, say, the ones emitted by an improperly-shielded supercritical nuclear reactor."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that if that thing gets within thirty kilometers of this city, it's not just going to hurt Japan," the Doctor said, his teeth clenched. "It's going to crack the planet in half."

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_Hey, Who fans - anyone remember the Ninth Doctor episode "Boom Town"? Remember Margaret the Slitheen's plan? Yeah._

_Hey, Eva fans? Just take the Doctor's word for it._


	11. Episode 4 Part II

Episode 4: The Walking Devastation  
>Part II: The sound of a thunder that roared out a warning<p>

**Tokyo-3 First Municipal Middle School**

The Doctor leapt to his feet and paced across the rooftop. "C'mon, think think think think think. Got to _think_!"

"You've got to tell them!" Shinji jumped up, his hands shaking. "They're planning to wait until it gets to the city! They won't do anything until it's too late!"

"No, no, no." The Doctor shook his head. "I don't trust them yet. And even if I did, they wouldn't believe me. Big organization like that, they'd have to think it was _their_ idea somehow. They'd need it to come from the inside."

"But -"

"Shhh." The Doctor suddenly held up a hand. "Do you hear that?"

Shinji closed his mouth. Back on his laptop, Ritsuko's presentation had reached the point where it cut to static, after the camera on the helicopter had been destroyed.

The Doctor dashed back to the computer's side. "There's another audio stream," he explained as he held the screwdriver up to the chip. "It's been deleted. But if I can reconstitute the memory fragments, we might -"

"- this be the Sixth Angel, then?" Ritsuko's voice asked through the laptop's speakers.

"No," another voice said. Shinji stiffened. It was his father. "From the enemy's physical profile, I suspect that we're dealing with Shamshel again."

"'The fiery sword that turned in all directions,' eh?" Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki's voice. Ritsuko must've briefed them with this same presentation before Misato woke up, Shinji thought. It was the only explanation.

"Regardless, I believe I mentioned to the Committee the dangers of allowing an active fission reactor to be built in Japan." Ritsuko's voice trembled slightly. "_Especially_ after the incident on the train earlier this month. There's no telling how much damage it will do before it's brought under control."

"Have those old fools in the JSSDF tried to use a full N2 mine assault yet?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"No." Ritsuko sighed. "Sanity's prevailed, at least for the moment. Even they recognize that would just spread the fallout at this poi-"

Her voice cut out. The Doctor dropped the chip. "That's all I can recover. They said N2 mine. What's that? What's an N2 mine?"

"Um. It stands for Non-Nuclear, I think." Shinji tried his best to remember his history classes. "They banned all of the old nuclear weapons and reactors years ago after Second Impact."

"There's something about that. Something there." The Doctor rubbed his chin. "Why would you do that? I mean, on the one hand, nasty things, yay humanity. But on the other hand - why _wouldn't_ you use them against enemies that are mostly organic? And why ban reactors, too? Unless..."

He slapped his head. "OH! Of course! FISSION! The Angels - they're _dimensionally transcendent_! Like great big multiforms. Why didn't I think of that?"

"What?" Shinji asked, entirely lost.

"The Angels - they must come from outside normal space-time." The Doctor waved his hands around in a vague, ball-like shape. "They naturally exist in higher dimensions than the usual four we inhabit. So in order to manifest on our level of reality, they have to build themselves forms here out of existing matter. That's where fission comes in - splits atoms apart, you see? All those spare quarks and neutrons and hadrons running around - everything a growing Angel needs to make its own body. Or steal someone else's.

"That's what happened on the train." The Doctor ran a hand down his face. "All this time, I thought it was the rift energy that drew it in. It wasn't. It was the fission cell I was using in my collector. Only it wasn't throwing out enough subatomic particles for the Angel to create a new body from scratch. So it just took over poor Mr. Sadamoto's instead. And now they're doing the same thing with a great big robot that was practically _built_ for them to inhabit."

"I don't understand," Shinji said slowly, trying his best to catch up. "If that's the case, and if my fa- if NERV knows about this... why would they let something like Jet Alone get built in the first place?"

"Someone must've not gotten the memo," the Doctor said grimly. "Or maybe had the memo hidden from them. Hard to say right now." He spun around and started to pace around the roof, scratching his head vigorously. "Urrgh, but this doesn't help us stop it! Think, think, think! Basic nuclear chain reaction. How do you stop something like that?"

Shinji's head felt about ready to explode. He sat back down on the rooftop and stared at the Doctor as he walked back and forth in a circle.

"Don't have the technology for a containment shield." The Doctor ticked off invisible possibilities from his hands. "Can't teleport it away like the Cyberking. OH! We could drown it in _seawater!_ - but it's too far inland, we'd never be able to transport enough in. We could disable the mechanical bits with an electromagnetic pulse - no, no, it has to be protected against that. And even if it weren't, if it can telekinetically compress its own fuel, there's no reason it couldn't just create an implosion and set itself off like a bomb. So whatever we do is not only going to have to survive the Angel itself, but a full-on nuclear explosion whenever it decides to throw in the towel. Urrrrghhhhhh!"

"What could do that?" Shinji asked, dazed.

"I don't know! Some big collection of exotic material - probably a crystal of some sort. Like diamond, but denser and tougher."

"Uh. A crystal?"

"Right." The Doctor tusseled his own hair. "And it'd have to be big - huge! Like solid-block-the-size-of-Millennium-Stadium huge!"

"Um, Doctor?" Shinji stood up.

He pointed to the immense corpse of the Fifth Angel in the distance, still being disassembled amid the downtown skyscrapers.

The Doctor didn't notice. "Like some kind of carbon-lead nanofiber... But where would we be able to get that much?"

"Doctor," Shinji said. "Look."

The Doctor glanced in the direction he was pointing, then back. "What?" he asked.

Shinji, at a loss for words, simply pointed again.

"What?" The Doctor looked behind him. It finally clicked. "Oh. _Oh._ OH!"

The next thing Shinji knew, the Doctor was back at the laptop. His fingers ran over the keyboard, faster than Shinji could see. "Japan Heavy Chemicals, Japan Heavy Chemicals," he muttered. "Resources, production plants, c'mon, c'mon... THERE!" He slapped the ground. Shinji, startled, jumped back. "Biochemical plant in Kofu. Which is just down the road from..." He traced a line across the screen. "Uenohara! Town and a big valley. Thirty-one kay-em north of the city."

The Doctor sat back from the computer, looking slightly stunned. "It could work. It could actually work."

"What could?" Shinji asked, helplessly.

"Shinji." The Doctor shot back up onto his feet, a somber expression on his face. "I'm going to have to ask you to be brave. Braver than you've ever been before. Just for a little while. Could you do that for me? Do you think you could manage it?"

"I - I guess," Shinji said. "Why? What are you going to do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The Doctor grinned. "You and me, Shinji Ikari. We're going to save the world."


	12. Episode 4 Part III

Episode 4: The Walking Devastation  
>Part III: The Sun's Gone Wibbly<p>

**NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma**

Shinji stood just outside the door to the command deck, sweating. What the Doctor had asked him to do hadn't sounded so bad at first. But now that he was here... well...

He took a deep breath and stepped out onto the floor. He saw Misato standing by Lieutenant Ibuki's station, surrounded by a gaggle of subordinates and technicians. He quietly moved to the outskirts of the crowd. "Misato?" he asked. "Um, Captain Katsuragi?"

She didn't hear him. No one did, over the throng of conversation in the room. They didn't have time for this. There was only one thing he could think of to do.

He shut his eyes and yelled at the top of his lungs: "MISATO!"

"_What_, Shinji?" Misato said, exasperated.

Shinji opened his eyes. She was looking at him now, clearly annoyed. As was everyone on the bridge, actually. He felt the blood rush to his head. Oh, God. He couldn't do this. He was going to hell for this. But the Doctor had said that everything depended on it. On _him_.

"What - what if," he said, as clearly as he could manage, "we trapped the Angel in the... Angel?" Oh, God, he was blowing it. He desperately tried to remember what the Doctor had told him to say. "I mean - the big crystal.. thing. Up above. What if we used that to cage Jet Alone?"

Misato stared at him, her eyes narrowed. She turned her head. "Hey, Ritsuko?"

"What?" Ritsuko said from the other side of the room. She sounded exhausted.

"That's not a bad idea. Using the Fifth Angel as a container. Why wouldn't it work?"

"Oh. Huh." Ritsuko looked up and thought for a moment. "Oh, the dismantling problem."

"Oh, right." Misato turned to Lieutenant Ibuki. "Maya, would you mind explaining it to him? I need to go check on the trucks."

"Yes, ma'am," Lieutenant Ibuki said.

Misato strode away, the technicians following her. The lieutenant leaned towards Shinji. "It was a good idea, Shinji," she said kindly. (Don't look at her chest, Shinji thought. _Don't_ look at her chest.) "But it won't work. The skin of the Fifth Angel is much too tough. It can only be cut with a special substance called antimatter, and we've been having a lot of trouble getting ahold of a supply for the workers to use. That's why it's taking so long to dispose of the body."

"Um." Shinji swallowed. "Ms. Ibuki... Lieutenant..."

"Maya's fine, Shinji."

"Um... Maya... thing is... have you been outside recently?"

"No. Why?"

Shinji pointed to her station. "Could you... I don't know... bring up a camera on the construction site, or something? Please?"

"Well... I suppose." Maya turned back to the console and typed in a few commands. A live feed came up on her screen. "There we go. Now -"

She looked at the monitor. Her jaw dropped.

"Uh," she called out. "Captain?"

* * *

><p><strong>Fifth Angel Crash Site, Downtown Tokyo-3. Earlier.<strong>

The massive form of the Fifth Angel lay split in half, an immense crack running straight through its center from top to bottom. Right. _That_ ought to give them a good start.

The Doctor tossed his screwdriver into the passenger seat of the blue Renault Alpine he'd borrowed out of the NERV parking lot. (It was in rough shape compared to the other cars that had been there. But he'd liked the color.) As he shifted it into gear and sped off, he picked up Shinji's cell phone and dialed a number from memory.

"Hello," he said into the phone. "Is this Dr. Akira Tamura? Chief of operations at the Japan Heavy Chemicals biochemical production facility in Kofu? Brilliant. I'm with NERV Health and Safety, Special Materials Procurement Division. We've got a rush job we need delivered in two hours' time. Top priority."

He waited until the sputtering at the other end of the line was complete. "Yes, I know that I'm going outside of normal channels. But listen to me. Right now, a weapon created by your corporation is on its way to attack this city. Millions of innocent lives are at risk. And the only thing that can stop your company's name and all its good work from being dragged down in shame and disgrace is _your actions_, right here, right now. Forget the executives. Forget your managers. Everyone and everything you care about, everything you _will_ care about - it's all in your hands, Dr. Tamura. Everything depends on the decision you make in this moment.

"Now get a pen. You'll want to write this next bit down."

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma<strong>

"I have no explanation, Dr. Akagi," the site manager said. "We can only conclude we cut a load-bearing structure somehow."

"I see. Thank you for your time." Ritsuko hung up the phone. She stared at it for a moment. "That is _absurdly_ convenient."

"Could it work?" Misato stood a few feet behind her, arms crossed. "Could we actually use it?"

"The Heavy Lift Division _should_ technically be capable of moving the two pieces." Ritsuko stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. "The material is fairly light for its volume. It had to float, after all. And if we use the positron rifle, we should be able to make a cavity large enough to fit the target... Tactically, though, I don't see how we could possibly force the Angel to hold still long enough to trap it inside."

"Let me worry about that," Misato snapped. "Make the arrangements."

"Right." Ritsuko picked up the phone again.

Misato turned away. "Shinji," she said.

"Huh?" Shinji looked up from where he sat off to the side of the command deck. He'd been enjoying the feeling of being invisible again.

Misato walked to him and bent down. "Where did you get the idea of using the Fifth Angel from?" she asked. "Did you come up with that yourself?"

Shinji squirmed a little. He really didn't like the idea of lying to Misato. But the Doctor had insisted that no one at NERV find out about him. "I just saw the crack in the Angel on my way back down here," he said. "I thought it might be useful. That's all."

Misato stared at him, eyes narrowed. Shinji couldn't meet her gaze.

"Ma'am?" Lieutenant Hyuga asked. Misato looked towards him - thank God. "We just received a notification from JSSDF Command. Japan Heavy Chemical Industries is planning a last stand at Uenohara. They've requested that the military support them."

"What?" Misato looked horrified. "Those idiots! What do they think that will accomplish?"

"Appearently, they have some kind of new chemical or product that they think might be able to slow Jet Alone down." The lieutenant rubbed his eyes. "They intend to buy us as much time as possible to prepare the city's defenses."

Misato turned away and stared at the main screen. Behind her, Shinji crossed his fingers. Please, Misato, he thought. Please make the connection yourself. If you don't, I'll never be able to convince you. Please...

"We'll take it," she muttered.

"What was that, ma'am?" Lieutenant Hyuga asked.

"Go get Rei," Misato said. "Prep the Evas for remote deploy. And get me the Heavy Lift Division. We're heading north."

* * *

><p><strong>Over Tokyo-3<strong>

Things happened very quickly after that. Scarcely an hour later, Shinji, once again in his plugsuit, found himself sitting in a jumpjet flying over the city. He stared out of the window, speechless, as he watched four massive helicopters - two to each half - begin to slowly lift the remains of the Fifth Angel out from the scaffolding around it.

"Here's the plan," Misato said. Shinji turned back to the cabin. It was fairly cramped. He and Rei were crammed next to each other on the same seat, while Misato stood in front of them, one arm roped around a hand rail for support. "In addition to what Japan Heavy Chemicals is trying, we've modified several of our generator trucks to produce an electromagnetic pulse effect. With luck, that'll disable the Angel long enough for the Heavy Lift Division to get the crystal around it.

"The Evas will only be used in a support capacity for this operation. You are to stay in camouflage and attempt to neutralize the enemy's AT field remotely. If the operation fails, you are both to immediately evacuate south to the city. The Evangelions are our last line of defense. We can't afford to risk them until we absolutely have to. Under _no circumstances_ are either of you to engage the enemy at this time. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Rei said.

"Shinji?" Misato asked, a certain dangerous edge in her voice.

"Err... yes," Shinji said. "I understand."

* * *

><p><strong>Mt. Takahata. 3 km south of Uenohara.<strong>

He found the Eva waiting for him when he arrived. Both units had been set up on a mountain ridge overlooking over the town, about a kilometer apart. They left him on the makeshift framework of camouflage netting and metal rafters surrounding Unit One to await orders.

Below him, the valley around Uenohara was full of activity, though Misato had said the town had been evacuated hours ago. He could see dozens of tanks and fire trucks along the base of the ridge, all pointing north. There looked to be hundreds of people in small groups roaming around the town and the highway that ran through it. They seemed to be spraying the ground and the buildings with what looked from a distance like shaving cream, or some kind of soap.

"Oi. Catch."

Shinji barely managed to react in time to grab his cell phone from midair. He turned and saw the Doctor standing further down on the platform, leaning against the ladder to the entry plug. "How did you get up here?" Shinji asked. "There's a perimeter! With, like, guards and guns and... stuff."

"Oh, that," the Doctor said dismissively. "You'd be amazed where people'll let you go if you just look like you've got somewhere important to be." He held up a thin black cell phone. "You can have that back now, by the by. Finally got this working with the local networks. Well, that and I needed the government caller ID to make some arrangements."

"Like what?" Shinji asked.

"That, mostly." The Doctor pointed at the shaving cream. "High-expansion pseudoelastic protein foam. Useful stuff. Fire-resistant, biodegradable, slippery as hell - but bunches up like concrete when exposed to water. As a bonus, also fairly decent at picking up radioactive fallout. Must say, those engineers in Kofu really know what they're doing. Should've taken _days_ to make this much.

"But never mind that. This is it, eh?" The Doctor turned towards Unit One. "The Evangelion. Up close and personal."

"Oh," Shinji said. "Yeah."

"It's alive, isn't it?" the Doctor asked, his voice suddenly quiet. "Mostly alive, anyway. A living creature, bound up in circuitry and metal."

Shinji remembered Unit One's face, shorn free of its mask. Staring right at him with a single, immense eye. He shivered and nodded. "Do you know what it is?"

"Well. It's obvious, isn't it?"

Shinji narrowed his eyes. "Look, every time you ask that question, why don't you just assume that it isn't to me?"

"Oh, _fine._ Take all the fun out of it, why don't you." The Doctor looked up at Unit One's head, shrouded in camouflage. "It's an Angel. Or the clone of an Angel. Made up of the same kind of matter as they are, anyway. Which brings up all kinds of disturbing questions, when you think about it. Though, mind you, we _are_ about to shove one living creature inside the dead body of another here, so maybe it's just that sort of day."

Something clicked inside of Shinji's head. "I see," he said. "They must've gotten that from Second Impact as well."

The Doctor looked at him. "They what?"

"I'll - I'll explain later. Okay?"

"Huh." The Doctor blinked. "Is _that_ what it feels like to hear that? I've always wondered."

* * *

><p><strong>Uenohara<strong>

Misato handed the tablet back to her subordinate. "That looks good," she said. "Let's move Truck 3 back to the train station, then. And please make sure that the JSSDF and UN commanders are fully briefed on the changes to the kill zone."

She turned back to the person next to her as the junior officer skittered away. "I must admit, I didn't expect to see you here."

Shiro Tokita, lead executive in charge of the Jet Alone project, nodded his head. He hadn't shaved, and he smelled vaguely of alcohol. "That's fair, Captain Katsuragi."

"This foam your company has created," Misato said. "Do you think it'll work?"

"I think it must be tried." He tried to give her a weak smile, which faltered. "I hope you understand, Ms. Katsuragi, that I never would have wished for this to happen. Not in a thousand years. All I ever wanted was to give this country - this world - some kind of hope."

Misato smiled at him. "Of course I understand. I'm in much the same business myself."

Tokita bowed to her. "With your permission, I should return to my work crew."

"Of course."

"Good luck, Captain."

"And to you."

He turned and left. Misato's cell phone rang once. She pulled it out and saw that she'd received a single text message. Its source was listed as UNKNOWN. It read:

_Isn't there something that you should say to him? Or are you waiting for the world to end again?_

* * *

><p><strong>Mt. Takahata<strong>

"Did I do all right?" Shinji asked softly. "Getting them to bring the crystal here and everything, I mean? The way that you asked?"

The Doctor grinned at him. "You did _fantastic._ Which, mind you, is not a word I say very often these days. Don't have the teeth."

Shinji smiled a little and looked away. He found himself staring towards the top of Unit Zero in the distance, hidden behind the tree cover. His smile faded. "Doctor?" he asked after a pause. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"All of this." Shinji spread his hands out towards the valley. "I don't know. Risking your life to save people. People you don't even know. Why are you doing it?"

The Doctor tilted his head. "Why do you?"

"I don't know." Shinji looked away. "Mostly, I just do what I'm told. Other than that... I guess I just can't stand the idea of people hating me, or blaming me for their suffering.

"But sometimes I wonder if I should feel that way. Why should I pilot the Eva when it just brings me pain? Why should I save people who don't care about me?"

The Doctor didn't say anything.

"Does that... does that make any sense?" Shinji asked. "Does it make me a bad person, asking a question like that?"

"Tell you what." The Doctor pointed towards the valley. "Why don't you ask them?"

Shinji looked down. "Who? The soldiers?"

"You haven't noticed? Look closer. Not a whole lot of uniforms down there." The Doctor leaned forward onto the safety railing. "They're from Japan Heavy Chemicals. Every single one a volunteer. And I didn't have a thing to do with it, by the way. I just asked them to make and deliver the foam. They turned up on their own."

Shinji stared at the scattered groups, speechless. The Doctor was right. They weren't wearing uniforms.

The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and waved it over the valley. "Right," he said. "There we go. How about that fellow off to the side."

"Wh - what are you doing?"

"Finding you someone to ask. There we go." He pulled out his cell, turned on the speakerphone, and dialed a number.

It rang twice before someone picked up. "Hello?" It was an older man. His voice sounded like cigarettes and extra shifts on the factory line.

"Hello," the Doctor said. "Sorry to bother you. Could I ask you for your name, sir?"

"Nobuhide Suzuki," the man said. "Who is this?"

"Mr. Suzuki, I'm standing here with one of the Evangelion pilots. If you don't mind, there's something he wants to ask you. Don't worry about the law, by the way. Full exemption and all that."

The man let out a short, gruff laugh. "As if I'd care about something like that at a time like this. Go ahead."

The Doctor held out the phone to Shinji. Shinji gave him a panicked look. "Go on, then," the Doctor whispered. "Don't be shy."

Shinji took the phone and swallowed. "Um," he said. "S-Sorry to bother you. I was just wondering... why are you doing this? Why are you risking your life for people who don't even know your name?"

"Hmm." He heard Mr. Suzuki scratch his throat. "That's a tough one. I guess I haven't really thought about it that much. It's not like I have a family like the others. My wife died last February and all...

"I guess... if I had to put it into words... this is the first time in a while that it's really felt like my life has had some kind of meaning. It's like... somewhere out there, in that city you come from, there's someone who'd be the age of my son and daughter, if they were still alive. And maybe they have children of their own, and they're happy. And as long as they're happy - or close enough - I can be content. As long as I can do something to protect that, it doesn't really matter what happens to me. Does that make any sense?"

Shinji opened his mouth, then closed it.

"Anyway, does that answer your question, son?" Mr. Suzuki asked.

"I think that it does, Mr. Suzuki. Thank you." The Doctor took the phone back from Shinji. "You take care of yourself down there. I'll see you on the ground."

"You, too, sir," Mr. Suzuki said. "And tell that pilot I said thank you. We'd all be dead if it wasn't for him."

The Doctor hung up. He turned back to Shinji. "You asked me why I'm doing this - why I'll always do this, every single time," he said. "That's why. Because once you see what people are capable of - plain, ordinary, stupid, _brilliant_ people - once you see past that to who they really are, to their potential..." The Doctor smiled. "Well, how could I _not_ save them? How could I deny the universe people like that?"

Shinji blinked a few times and looked away. Down at the bottom of the ridge, he saw a group of NERV vehicles heading up the road towards them. He cleared his throat. "Someone's coming."

"Right. I should probably go. I've still got to suit up, myself." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "Will you be all right up here, though?"

"I think so." Shinji smiled at him. "I think I understand. I mustn't run away."

"What? Oh, no. Who told you that?" The Doctor sounded horrified. "No, _always_ run away. That's the first thing you try, running away. Without fail."

"What?" Shinji looked at him, shocked. "But... you're not running away!"

"Well, not _yet_, maybe. But I've got longer legs than you do." The Doctor mimed jogging. "Better turn of speed, you see?"

Somewhere below, Shinji heard a car door slam. "You'd better -" But when he looked up, the Doctor was already gone.

* * *

><p>The Doctor jumped down the stairs and sprinted away. Time to get to work, then. He pocketed Martha's cell phone and took out a ball of string, which he started to unwind...<p>

* * *

><p>Misato stepped onto the scaffolding around the Eva. "Were you just talking to someone?" she asked. "Who was that?"<p>

"Oh. Um. I'm not sure," Shinji said. "One of the volunteers, I think." Which was _technically_ true, at least.

Misato sighed. "God. What do those security guys think they're doing? But anyway." She strode down the platform towards him. "We need to talk. There's something I want to say to you."

Shinji winced. Here it came. The inevitable response to his performance yesterday, and to his outburst on the command deck earlier. He cast his eyes down at the ground. This was going to hurt...

Misato reached out and hugged him. "Thank you for saving my life," she said.

She held him for a moment, then pulled away. Shinji looked up at her, amazed. "But," he said. "But - I thought you were angry at me. For disobeying orders again."

"What? No, no. Of course not." She brushed her hair out of her face. "Shinji, if we'd followed through on my plan yesterday, we would have both been killed. If I've been angry at anyone, it's been myself. I let myself get caught by surprise. I should've seen it coming. It's my _job_ to plan for every possibility. And I failed..."

Shinji tilted his head. "You... should've planned for it to turn into an Angel?"

"Anyway." She smiled at him. "You were great. You did exactly what any soldier should do on the ground - adapt to the situation as it develops." She bent down to him, her face suddenly deadly serious. "That said - if you _ever_ do anything like that again - without telling me what it is you're up to first - I _will_ tear your skull off with my bare hands. I am _not even_ kidding."

Shinji stood up straight. "Yes, ma'am!"

One of the NERV agents standing behind Misato coughed and stepped forward. "Excuse me, ma'am?"

Misato sighed and turned around. "What now?"

"Sorry, ma'am." The agent held up his cell phone. "I've got a JSSDF patrol on the line. They just found a car with NERV plates on a routine sweep on the other side of the mountain, towards Doshi. They just wanted to make sure it was one of ours."

"Towards Doshi...?" Misato thought for a second. "I don't think so. What kind of car?"

The agent consulted a small notepad. "Color is blue. It's an import, a Renault Alpine A310 reproduction, electric-powered..."

"A - WHAT?" Misato grabbed the cell phone out of the agent's hand and roared into it. "THAT'S _MY_ CAR! WHAT IS _MY CAR_ DOING HERE?"

Behind her, Shinji slowly edged away from her, desperately trying not to look guilty...

Lieutenant Hyuga burst around the corner from the stairs. "Captain!" he shouted.

Misato swung towards him. "WHAT?"

To his credit, the lieutenant did not immediately run away screaming, nor soil himself. He held up his hands and whimpered, "Fifteen minutes."

Misato calmed down. "What? What do you mean?"

"Fifteen minute warning." Hyuga adjusted his glasses. "We just heard from reconnaissance. It's here."


	13. Episode 4 Part IV

Episode 4: The Walking Devastation  
>Part IV: The highway of diamonds<p>

**Inside EVA Unit One. Mt. Takahata.**

Sometimes, it seemed to Shinji that the waiting before a battle was worse than the fighting itself. Then he remembered the fights that he'd been in, and waiting didn't seem quite so bad. He tightened his grip on the controls.

The entire valley had gone still. A vast column of smoke and ash rose high above the mountains north of Uenohara. Shinji focused the Eva's cameras on the end of the pass that led into the town's center.

"All units, hold fire until signaled," Misato whispered over the comm.

There was the distant sound of an explosion. Then silence again.

"Here it comes," Lieutenant Hyuga's voice said quietly.

Shinji strained his eyes. He thought he could maybe see the trees moving...

It rounded the last hill and came into view.

Jet Alone had changed since Old Tokyo. For one thing, it was on fire. Its head and most of its right shoulder blade had vanished, replaced by a pyre of white-hot flame. Large sections of its skin had dissolved, exposing the metal skeleton underneath. Its formerly beige paint job had turned as black as pitch. And all around it spread a vast grey fog of ash and sparks and small bits of metal.

_But it was still moving._ It dragged its tentacles alongside of it as it marched. As Shinji watched, it strode through two houses on the hillside without so much as a pause.

Shinji felt his hands start to shake. It was strange. He could never remember what this kind of complete, all-consuming terror felt like when he was outside of the Eva's cockpit. Maybe, he thought, he just didn't want to.

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Mobile Command Post, Mt. Takahata<strong>

"Target approaching kill zone," Lieutenant Hyuga said. On the screen over his head, a satellite image tracked the enemy as it strode across Uenohara.

Misato waited until it reached the highway. "Shinji, Rei," she said. "Now."

The Evas spread their AT fields over the valley, locking down and limiting the Angel's.

"EMP generators, go."

The generator trucks spread throughout the town self-destructed, throwing out a vast burst of energy. Several monitors in the van went to static as a number of unshielded cameras went offline.

"All units, go!"

The tanks opened fire. Simultaneously, the work crews on the fire engines let loose streams of high-pressure water on the legs and ground beneath Jet Alone, where the foam ran three meters deep. You've got a choice now, Misato thought at her enemy. Stop the tank shells with your AT field, or stop the water. Which is it gonna be?

"Target has ceased movement!" Lieutenant Hyuga barked.

"Heavy Lift Division!" Misato shouted. "Go!"

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Eva Unit One<strong>

Shinji watched as the helicopters charged in from the east and west sides of the valley, towing in their wake the pieces of the Fifth Angel. The team from the east reached the target first. Its half of the crystal dropped perfectly on top of Jet Alone, wedging itself over the robot's left side.

As the team from the west approached, the Angel pulled its right foot free from the ground and twisted itself to the side. It fired. The beam rammed into the advancing section of the crystal. The tow cables snapped. The piece fell to the ground, far short of the target, crushing a school beneath it. The western helicopters, suddenly buoyant, pulled up and dodged, missing the eastern team by what looked like inches.

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Mobile Command Post, Mt. Takahata<strong>

Misato slammed her fist into the desk. "DAMMIT!" So close. So goddamn _close_!

On the screens, Jet Alone pushed the eastern half of the crystal off of itself and to the side. It fired again. The beam consumed three of the JSSDF tanks at once. Their crews didn't even have time to scream.

Misato shook her head. "We're done here. All units, retreat! Shinji! Rei! Back to the city! Move it!"

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Eva Unit One<strong>

There was a part of Shinji that was absolutely thrilled to hear Misato's orders. It was all right. He could run away! (_Run where?_ a small voice in the back of his head whispered.) He didn't have to feel ashamed! He didn't have to stay! He didn't have to fight!

Down below in the valley, a fire truck exploded as Jet Alone's beam arced out over the town. He could see figures fleeing through the smoke. They weren't wearing uniforms.

"Shinji?" he heard Misato ask. "Shinji? Did you hear me?"

"I'm - I'm sorry, Misato," Shinji said, his voice cracking. "I - I _can't_."

He ejected the umbilical cord. The Eva tore itself free from the camouflage netting. He ran full-tilt down the mountain and into the valley.

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Mobile Command Post<strong>

Misato stared at the monitor, stunned. "Idiot," she said. The side of her mouth twitched.

* * *

><p><strong>Mt. Jinba. 4 km northeast of Uenohara.<strong>

The Doctor stood on the hilltop, screwdriver pointed up to the sky. He glanced behind him just in time to see Unit One charge into the town. "Urrghhh they never listen! Why don't they ever listen?" He frantically tapped the switch faster.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit One<strong>

Shinji leapt over a group of fire trucks and past the highway. It was going all right until he landed on the foam and his feet slipped out from under him. The Eva fell to the ground, flat on its back, and slid right into the Angel's feet.

He found himself staring up at Jet Alone. It bent down towards him. There was a flash of metal, and then one of the tentacles was falling towards him, straight at his head...

Except Unit Zero caught it with both hands. Rei kicked out at Jet Alone's midsection. It stumbled backwards, left foot still caught in the foam.

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Mobile Command Post<strong>

"Rei?" Misato shouted. "Not you too!"

"I'm sorry," Rei said calmly over the link. "I'm under orders from Commander Ikari to protect Unit One at all costs."

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit One<strong>

Shinji stumbled to his feet and tackled Jet Alone around its waist. It tried to push him off with its AT field, but he managed to cling on.

Something made a noise to his left, inside of the entry plug. He glanced over and saw his cell phone, hanging in the fluid.

He reached out and took it. "Shinji!" The Doctor shouted through the phone. "Hold on! I'm on my way! Just try to hold it still!"

* * *

><p><strong>Uenohara<strong>

Nobuhide Suzuki held fast to the side of the fire engine, its hose still pumping water at Jet Alone. He heard a sound above him and glanced up.

He tapped the woman standing next to him on the back and pointed. "Hey. Look at that."

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Mobile Command Post<strong>

Misato clenched her hands into fists. Her mind raced, trying to think of some trick, some way out of the utter disaster unfolding in front of her eyes.

"What on earth...?" Lieutenant Hyuga pointed at one of the monitors. "Who is that?"

Misato turned and saw the drone from the Franklin diving out of the sky, straight towards Jet Alone - with someone in a spacesuit clinging to its landing gear.

"What the hell-?" she said. "Son of a bitch stole my plan!"

* * *

><p><strong>Over Uenohara<strong>

The Doctor gripped onto the drone's struts as tightly as he could, screwdriver dangling from his wrist by a bit of string. Blimey, these gloves were useless. Hadn't this suit been made for rock climbing at one point?

He waited until the drone was right over Jet Alone and let go. He fell the remaining twenty feet or so onto the metal ladder running down the thing's back. He caught onto one of the rungs, ribs banging painfully into the next one down, of course. He was going to be feeling this one in the morning, no way about it.

"Was - was that you?" Shinji's voice shouted through the speaker in the helmet. "ARE YOU INSANE?"

"Sorry, can't talk," the Doctor gasped out. "Climbing back of giant possessed robot." He started to make his way down the ladder towards the maintenance hatch.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit One<strong>

Jet Alone finally managed to throw Shinji off. Which left an opening for Rei to dodge in with her knife.

Shinji pulled the Eva back onto its feet. "But - but you don't have the codes!"

* * *

><p>"Codes?" The Doctor pointed the sonic at the hatch. The lock popped out. The door swung open. "We don't need no stinkin' codes! I've got a <em>screwdriver<em>! And _things to break_!"

Grinning wildly, he swung himself down through the hatch.

* * *

><p>Shinji turned just in time to see the Angel toss Unit Zero - holding the severed end of one metal tentacle - straight at him. He caught Rei as best he could - which more or less amounted to falling back down as she bounced off of him and leapt straight back towards the enemy.<p>

As he pulled the Eva's head out of what looked like the town library, he noticed he was being watched. There were people standing on top of and around a fire engine parked next to what remained of the building. Some were soldiers. Some weren't. All of them were watching him. They didn't look scared, or angry, or happy. They merely observed him, expressionless, as if there was nothing remarkable in front of them.

Shinji triggered the Eva's loudspeakers. "Run!" he shouted. "You've got to run! We'll try to hold it off!" He once again got the Eva up onto its feet and charged back into the fight.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Jet Alone<strong>

The Doctor had picked up the spacesuit he was wearing from a 41st century Sanctuary base, which meant that it was rated up to at least Venus-level conditions. He nonetheless couldn't help but feel that he'd finally managed to void the suit's warranty as he picked himself up out of the puddle of molten slag he'd slid straight into.

At least the mag boots still worked. No sooner had he stood up than Jet Alone shook like - well, like a giant robot being body-checked by two giant cyborgs. He braced himself against the wall and glanced around. Right. It looked like he was somewhere near the reactor. Which probably meant...

He stomped down the corridor a bit further and applied the screwdriver to a panel on the wall. Tossing the covering aside, he found himself looking at a nightmarish mishmash of electric cables, plastic tubing and circuitry, interlaced with an odd substance that rather unpleasantly resembled raw muscle tissue. The Doctor reached in and started tearing out wires.

* * *

><p>The tentacle wrapped around Shinji's neck suddenly went limp. He knocked it off and rammed the Eva's fist into Jet Alone. The Angel fired its beam at him, but he had his AT field up - Rei reached past him and grabbed ahold of the other tentacle, putting it into an arm lock -<p>

* * *

><p>As the screwdriver burned out a particularly important-looking circuit board, the Doctor - lying flat on his back in yet another access shaft - keyed the suit's radio to wide-band transmission. "I know I'm hurting you, and I'm sorry," he said. "But you have to listen. This machine you're inside - it was made by human hands. Use it. Translate what I'm saying into terms you understand. The city you're heading towards - it has a class-6 dimensional rift right over it. If you go any closer with this thing, it'll destroy this entire world. Whoever you are, whatever you want - you <em>can't<em> want that. What'd be the point? There'd be no resources left to claim. No people to conquer. Everyone would lose. So for the love of whatever is holy to you, I'm begging you - _stop this._ Stop this before it's too late!"

* * *

><p>Jet Alone stopped moving. Its AT field broke down. Surprised, Shinji let go and stepped back. It fell to its knees in front of him, lifeless.<p>

* * *

><p>The Doctor eased himself out of the crawlspace. "There we go," he said cheerfully. "That's better, eh? Now why don't we..."<p>

The screwdriver suddenly buzzed in his hand. That was odd. It was only supposed to go off like that if it detected -

The Doctor started running. He put the suit radio back to cell phone mode. "Shinji!" he yelled. "It's purifying the reactor fuel! It's going to detonate itself! Cage it! Cage it now!"

* * *

><p>"But you're still -" Shinji said.<p>

"I'll be fine! Go!" the Doctor shouted through the phone.

Shinji turned and ran west. As he leapt the highway, he keyed Unit Zero's frequency. "Rei! Go get the other half! Please!"

"Understood," Rei said.

* * *

><p>The Doctor ran down the corridor back towards the exit. No sooner had he reached the halfway mark that the hallway in front of him folded inwards and collapsed, like an artery closing itself off.<p>

He skidded to a halt in front of the obstruction. "Yeeaahhhhh," he said. "This is gonna sting a bit, isn't it."

* * *

><p>The Eva couldn't lift the piece of crystal on its own. So he had to push it, straight though the highway and the houses and the debris scattered across the town, praying all the while that the work crews were fast enough to get out of his way. Rei was waiting for him. She stood braced behind the other side, propping it up into position. With a sound like the crash of thunder, they shoved the two halves of the Fifth Angel together over Jet Alone.<p>

"Shinji! Rei!" Misato suddenly yelled over the comm. It'd been some time since Shinji had heard her say anything. "Put your AT fields over the crystal! Seal up the cracks!"

"Right!" Shinji extended the field. He scanned the ground with the Eva's cameras. Where was the Doctor? He couldn't see any sign of -

Time ran out. Once again, everything went white.


	14. Episode 4 Part V

Episode 4: The Walking Devastation  
>Part V: Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?<p>

**Uenohara.**

There was fire and heat and light. A massive wave of hot air burst through the valley. The buildings shook like leaves.

Then - just as quickly as it had started - it was over.

Nobuhide Suzuki raised his head from behind the piece of broken highway he'd used as cover. "Well, I'll be damned," he said.

* * *

><p>The video feeds came back on. Misato sat down and let out the deep breath that had stuck in her throat. Both Evas stood intact over Uenohara. A few twisted fragments of scorched armor jutting from out of the ground were all that remained of Jet Alone. The body of the Fifth Angel, though it had held together through the explosion, had been burnt to a crisp. As she watched, the withered crystal dissolved into blood-red fluid, gently flooding through what remained of the town.<p>

"What's our status?" she asked.

"All hardwired systems check out green." Lieutenant Hyuga looked over the readouts. "Communications seem to be down, though."

"Send out runners, then," Misato said. Damn, her eyes felt heavy. "Check in on the work crews and the tanks. Get help to whoever needs it. And for God's sake, someone get Shinji out of that cockpit before he does something else."

* * *

><p>Shinji watched through the Eva's cameras as the crystal dissolved, his brain struggling to grasp what had just happened. It just wasn't fair. Around him, the entry plug began to blur and turn red. There was a high-pitched ringing sound in his ears...<p>

Wait. That was his cell phone.

Shinji snatched the phone back up and pressed the receive button. "Right," the Doctor's voice said. "Big fir tree behind you and to the left? Call it maybe, oh, two hundred meters or so to the west? Big hole in the top? Can't miss it. If you could... err... bring the big fella around... I'm sort of a bit stuck."

* * *

><p>"Slowly, now... slowly..." the Doctor said.<p>

Unit One carefully bent the top of the fir tree down with one hand while holding out the other below. Shinji glanced at the battery readout. Twenty seconds of power left.

"Slowly... just a bit slower..."

Fifteen seconds. Out of time. Shinji twisted the Eva's wrist.

"SLOWER I SAID SLOWER! SLOW -"

The Doctor tumbled out from the tree and into the Eva's palm. He groaned. Shinji lowered him to the ground as the power finally gave out. A familiar warning came up on the entry plug's screen: _EXTERIOR RADIATION ABOVE SAFE LEVEL. ENTRY PLUG EJECT DISAB-_

Shinji kicked the controls in frustration. The message disappeared. The eject sequence started.

* * *

><p>He rushed around the other side of the Eva. The Doctor, still lying in the Eva's hand, had pulled the spacesuit's helmet off, its faceplate cracked. He shot Shinji a look as he turned the corner. "Armor's a bit thick on this thing, don't you think?" he asked. "You lot ever think about padding for situations like this? Maybe an airbag or two?"<p>

Shinji reached down and poked the Doctor in the shoulder. It was solid. He sat down and stared at the figure in front of him.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You - that - how -" Shinji's brain finally settled on a single phrase. "That - that was an explosion. An actual nuclear bomb explosion."

"Felt like one, yeah."

"How - how are you _not dead_? How are you still here?"

"Oh, right. That. Thought something like this might happen, so I brought this along..." The Doctor reached behind him and pulled something off of the back of the spacesuit, free of what sounded suspiciously like duct tape. He held up an object that looked to Shinji like a large, very thick circuit board, its edges glowing with a strange purple energy. "Tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator. Picked it up the last time I ran into a problem like this. Your basic pan-dimensional surfboard. Shields you from an explosion, absorbs the energy, and uses it to propel you along the course of the blast wave. Mind you, little boom like that last one doesn't get you much. Barely even made the stratosphere before I - oh, _don't_ do that. Don't -" The lights on the board flickered and died. The Doctor laid his head back down and sighed. "Wonderful. More things to fix."

Shinji sat back. He stared up at the blue sky, at the sun shining, at the fir tree missing its needles, at the armor on the Eva's head, only slightly scorched...

He started to laugh. Really, actually laugh. For the first time since - well, he couldn't remember when.

"What? What'd I say?" The Doctor, confused, glanced at his boots. "Are my toes sticking out or something?"

Shinji paused for breath, his chest heaving. "You're can't possibly exist," he gasped out. "You're impossible. You're completely impossible, you know that?"

"'s not impossible," the Doctor objected. "Just a little unlikely."

Far overhead, a helicopter roared across the valley. The Doctor sighed again. "Guess that's my cue." Groaning, he reluctantly got to his feet, pine needles scattering out of the folds of the spacesuit. "Best be moving on, before the cleanup really gets started."

"Yeah..." The cleanup. At this point, Misato would probably be... Shinji froze. Oh. Oh, crap. Misato. "Um - could I - could you give me a ride back to the city, actually? I don't want to see Misato right away. I kind of like my skull where it is."

The Doctor shrugged. "Eh. Suit yourself. Now, where'd I leave that car?..."

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma<strong>

"All in all, the Committee is less than pleased." Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki brushed a bit of lint off the end of his sleeve. Travel was hard on these old uniforms. "While the incident has cost Japan Heavy Chemicals dearly, the actions of their employees has given the company the opportunity to save more face than the old men would have liked. I was left with the impression that they were rather more prepared to take advantage of a small-scale embarrassment, as was originally planned."

"Mmh."

"Forgive the pun, but we're going to be dealing with the fallout from this for quite some time," Fuyutsuki said. "There are too many questions still unresolved. What's going to happen to Japan Heavy Chemicals. How the Angel managed to overcome Akagi's safeguards. Not to mention - what is it that you want to do about this Doctor fellow?"

"Nothing, yet." Gendo Ikari folded his hands. "I want to see what he does next."

* * *

><p><strong>Tokyo-3<strong>

"Only five minutes?" the Doctor asked. "Are you serious? The battery life is that short?"

They walked through the winding alleyways and side streets of the old section of the city, having left Misato's car in a parking lot several blocks behind. The Doctor had donned his long brown coat again. He carried the spacesuit over one shoulder and the extrapolator thing under his arm, while Shinji carried his helmet.

"It's ten to fifteen minutes with the extended battery packs," Shinji said. "But they're pretty awkward to move around with."

"So you can only operate for fifteen minutes at a time?"

"Well, that's what the umbilical cords are for. Inside the city, there's a station every few blocks."

"Superadvanced giant battle cyborgs... that have to be _plugged in_?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's a bit rubbish. Don't you think?"

Shinji shrugged, a bit defensively. "Wasn't _my_ idea."

"Never said it was." They came to an alleyway that looked the same as all the others they'd been through. Except for an odd-looking wooden box set against a wall next to a dumpster. "Welp, this is me." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "Long as you're here, suppose you might as well come in for a spell. I'll put the kettle on."

He snapped his fingers. The door to the box clicked open.

Shinji stared at him. "You... live inside of a box?"

"Yep."

"Isn't it sort of... cramped?"

"Is it? Eh, maybe a bit." The Doctor shrugged. "You get used to it."

He walked into the box, leaving the door ajar behind him.

Shinji eyed the box. It looked barely large enough to hold the Doctor, let alone him. Well... it wasn't like this was the weirdest thing he'd seen today. He supposed he could just hand the helmet to the Doctor through the doorway or something...

"You coming?" the Doctor called from inside.

"Yeah." Shinji went to the door...

... and stopped short. He stood in the threshold, looking inside, his entire world turning upside-down all over again.

"What," he said.

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_First off - Eva fans? I'd like you to meet the Doctor. This is who he is. This is what he does._

_Speaking of awesome, you know who else is? Misato. I kind of stole one of her crowning moments from the series from her here. I'm hoping to make up the difference fairly soon._

_Regarding the waveform extractor: before anyone accuses me of just pulling it out of nowhere - well, okay, I more or less did that, so rather before anyone accuses me of just making it up - it actually appeared in the "Who" episode I mentioned in the first chapter of the episode. Wikipedia it, if you like._

_Lastly, and on a more serious note - the characters of Akira Tamura and Nobuhide Suzuki are named after two workers at Fukushima. If you don't know why that's important, look up "Fukushima 50." Right now. I'm serious. This is something people should know about. (Source is the Telegraph: telegraph dot co dot uk / news / worldnews / asia / japan / 8408863 / Japan-tsunami-Fukushima-Fifty-the-first-interview dot html. Convert dots to periods and remove whitespace as necessary.)_

_If they or their loved ones should ever happen to come across this - I hope that you don't take these scribblings as an insult. I apologize for putting my own words into their mouths. As someone who honestly doesn't know if I'd be capable of taking the actions that they did, I could only try to guess their reasons and motivations. I also know that Japanese culture traditionally emphasizes the role of the community or the group over that of the individual, which is why the names of the Fifty have generally remained unlisted in the media. American that I am, though, I suppose I can't help but see that every individual attached to that particular group_ chose _to be there and to take part. I tend to think that the name of anyone capable of making that sort of decision is a name worth remembering._


	15. Prequel to Episode 5

Prequel to Episode 5

**Tokyo-3 Loop Line 7. Early September 2015.**

"Do you really think he likes me?" Kanade asked.

"Of course he does, silly." Ayase patted her friend on the back. "He gave you those flowers, didn't he?"

"You... don't think I'm too tall for him?" Kanade slouched down further into her seat. She was the tallest in their class, the poor girl.

"I'm sure he doesn't care about something like that." Ayase pushed her glasses against her nose.

"He's a waste of time, if you ask me," Yuki said. She brushed back her pale hair.

Ayase sighed. Yuki always had to act so tough. She was already strong - she was the most popular of the three of them, in spite of her being an albino - but somehow that never seemed to be enough for her. "Yukkkiii..."

"Well, he is." Yuki stood up as the train pulled into the station. They needed to transfer to line 2 here to get back home from their high school, since line 3 was still out of service. "I'm sorry, but I just can't stand guys like that. If he really cared about you, Kanade, he'd just _say_ something already. If he can't do that, how deep do you really think his feelings go?"

"Yuki, this isn't about you and Hideaki," Ayase said quietly.

"Did I ever say it was?" Yuki crossed her arms. The train doors opened.

* * *

><p><strong>Sengokuhara Station<strong>

They had to wait for the next train, so Yuki and Kanade went to the bathroom. Ayase didn't. All the bathrooms on this line were so gross. Instead, she went to the vending machines and looked for bottled water. They were out, of course. Everyone had been buying as much as they could ever since the government had declared the water supply from the north suspect.

God, she hated this station. It was always so creepy here. There was no one else on the platform except for her. The stations on line 3 were so much nicer. If only that stupid Angel hadn't damaged the track...

She glanced at the entrance to the women's bathroom. Her friends had been in there for a really long time. Had Kanade gotten sick again? She walked over and pushed the door open. "Kanade?" she called in. "Yuki?"

There was no answer.

Bracing herself against the smell, she walked in. She turned the corner and immediately saw Yuki. Her friend stood at the opposite end of the bathroom, past the stalls. She faced the wall, her back to Ayase.

Ayase took a few more steps forward. "Yuki?" she asked. "Is - is everything all right?"

Yuki didn't move.

"Are you trying to scare me again? Come on. You know I'm a big baby."

Yuki didn't say a word.

Ayase hesistantly took a step back...

... which was when someone grabbed her in a headlock from behind.

Ayase let out a shriek and blanched as the person behind her pressed down on her throat. She recognized the arm around her neck. "Kanade?" she squeaked. "Stop it. You're hurting me."

One of the stall doors opened with a click. A man walked out. He was big - really tall, and really old, and really fat. He wore the uniform and hat of one of the subway employees. He turned towards her.

"Kanade, please let me go," Ayase begged, tears in her eyes. "This isn't funny. This isn't -"

The subway man _opened._

Ayase started to scream...


	16. Episode 5 Part I

Episode 5: Parent-Teacher Conference  
>Part I: Is my child meeting expectations?<p>

**Class 2-A. Tokyo-3 First Municipal Middle School. Early September 2015.**

"Oh, man, she's here!"

There was a loud noise as Toji and Kensuke threw themselves against the classroom windows, followed by every male in the room. Except for Shinji, who held back by his desk. Misato had obviously arrived for Parent-Teacher Day.

"_That's_ Ikari's guardian?"

"He's living with a babe like that?"

"Idiots." Hikari sniffed.

It wasn't that Shinji wasn't interested in what Misato was wearing today. It was just that - well - things had been weird between them recently. Not that he'd expected otherwise. After all, he'd disobeyed her direct orders. _Again_. And then he'd left the battlefield without telling her. He vaguely remembered hearing that they usually shot you in the military for doing things like that. At the very least, he'd thought he'd be chewed out like never before.

She hadn't said a word. Not one. Not when he'd showed up at the apartment the night after the battle with Jet Alone, expecting to be handed his head. And not in the week since. She'd been pleasant enough during that time, when she had spoken to him.

Somehow, that scared Shinji even more than the thought of any punishment could. He couldn't quite say why.

He still felt guilty about not telling her the truth. But at this point, how was he supposed to do that without sounding like he'd gone insane? What was he supposed to say? "By the way, my English teacher is an alien who lives inside a little wooden box that's bigger on the inside. He says he's going to save the world." What was she supposed to do with that? What was _he_ supposed to do with that?

* * *

><p><strong>Fourth Floor Teacher's Lounge.<strong>

The Doctor stopped short of the door, a wide chestnut box underneath his arm, having caught a glimpse of the young woman waiting in the room for him. _This_ was who Shinji was living with? Blimey. What with fourteen-year-old hormones and all, it was a wonder the boy hadn't suffered a testosterone overdose.

He slid the glass-paneled door aside and walked into the lounge, pushing his glasses back onto his nose. "Right," he said. "Ms. Katsuragi, wasn't it? Shinji Ikari's guardian?" She nodded. "I'm Mr. Smith, the second year English teacher. Hope you don't mind if I move things along - got a very full schedule today. And you and I have some very serious business to discuss.

"Namely, this." He set the chest down on the table in front of her and opened it.

Misato Katsuragi looked at the box. Then at him.

"Borrowed it off the school librarian. Lovely woman. Christmas present from her son in Los Angeles." The Doctor poked through the various packets of tea inside of the chest. "Now, we've got Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Assam, Darjeeling... I suppose this is some variety of green tea, though I wouldn't quite trust it. Always a bit dodgy, those herbal blends."

She gave him a small smile.

The Doctor turned towards the kettle and the small minifridge along the back wall. "Mind you, it's not a proper cuppa without milk. Hope you don't mind soy - it's all we've got, what with the fallout embargo and all. Though I did once meet a Ukrainian fellow who swore radiation added to the taste. Didn't really have much in the way of teeth left, though, so I don't know if I'd trust -"

There was the click of a safety being switched off. It came, unless the Doctor was mistaken, from the fairly large handgun Captain Katsuragi had just pressed to the back of his head. He hadn't so much as heard her move.

The Doctor swallowed. "Or," he said. "I... _suppose_ we could try the chamomile. If you insist."


	17. Episode 5 Part II

Episode 5: Parent-Teacher Conference  
>Part II: Is my child getting along with others?<p>

**Daihakone Station. Three blocks to the south.**

It flowed from out of the tunnels and through the deserted subway station. Without a sound, it crawled up the stairs and out onto the open streets.

* * *

><p><strong>Fourth Floor Teacher's Lounge<strong>

"Or the peppermint. I could settle for peppermint." The Doctor very carefully held up his hands to either side. "Maybe the decaf, though? Just a thought."

"Who. Are. You?" Captain Katsuragi growled.

"Shinji's English teacher. Didn't I say on the way in? I thought I said."

"I'm not in the mood to be patronized today."

"Yeah, I... gathered that." The Doctor tried to sneak a glance back towards her. She'd hidden her eyes behind her sunglasses, light gleaming off of the mirrored lenses. "Look, not to be blunt here - but is there a particular reason you're pointing a gun at my head?"

"You tell me, Doctor." He winced. "Pro tip - we _are_ capable of monitoring sounds and conversations within our entry plugs. Especially when the pilot forgets to shut off his mike."

The Doctor sighed. "Should've rigged the mobile to jam other signals," he muttered. "Knew I was missing something. See, that's what happens when you rush things."

"So you are the Doctor, then. The man Shinji met on that train." The captain adjusted her grip on the pistol. "I appreciate what you did then, but this little game ends now. NERV will not tolerate outside forces manipulating our pilots. And I won't tolerate anyone putting Shinji's life in danger."

"Interesting choice of words." The Doctor allowed an edge to creep into his voice. "Considering I'm not the one sending him out to _die_ on a regular basis."

* * *

><p><strong>One block to the south.<strong>

Officer Kitazume keyed his squad car's radio. "Dispatch, this is four-three-one-nine. Are you seeing what I'm seeing here?"

"Confirmed, four-three-one-nine," the dispatcher replied. "We have you on camera."

"So what is it? Some kind of political stunt?"

"Negative. Nothing's been scheduled for this week. And you're in a restricted zone." There was the sound of typing at the other end of the connection. "Sending backup to your location. Please investigate further and report back."

"Roger." He gunned the car's engine and let out a short burst from the siren. Great, he thought. It had to be one of those crazy new religions, then, like they'd been talking about on the news the other night. Just what his day needed.

* * *

><p><strong>Fourth Floor Teacher's Lounge<strong>

There was a pause behind the Doctor. Then another click as the captain fully pulled back the gun's hammer.

(Huh, he thought. Didn't expect that to hit a nerve. Interesting. Also, that might not have been the best thing to say right here and now.)

"I'll ask you again," the captain said, her voice cold. "Who are you? Who do you work for?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Who do I _work_ for?"

There was a sudden, sharp bang in the distance, like a firework going off. The Doctor turned around and craned his neck towards the window. "Did you hear that?"

She pointed the gun directly at his face. "Did I say that you could move?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. How am I going to answer your questions if you kill me?"

"Maybe I'm trying to decide if you're worth listening to."

He grinned. "Oh, I am. And you know how you can tell?"

"How?"

He looked her in the eye - or in the sunglasses, at least. "Because I don't ignore explosions outside of schools. Especially the ones that give me tea."

She looked at him for a moment. Then pulled back the gun slightly. "Fine. Just remember, I'm watching you."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." The Doctor walked around her and went to the window. "Well, except for the gun. I could really live without the gun. Literally live without it, in fact. I swear, you military types and your control issu -" He glanced outside and froze.

* * *

><p><strong>Class 2-A.<strong>

"Hey. Who are those people?"

Shinji looked up, bleary-eyed, from the sheet of notebook paper he'd been scribbling on. The short-haired girl who sat in the back corner of the class - he couldn't remember her name for the life of him - pointed towards the classroom windows.

The class migrated towards her. Hikari and her friends, who had been standing nearby talking, went to what's-her-name's side. Rei, sitting in her usual seat by the window, looked up from the small paperback she'd been reading. Kensuke jumped up from his seat, camcorder in hand. Toji made a big show of stretching his arms, then followed.

Shinji glanced down at the paper on his desk, the main features of which consisted of a doodle of a blue box and the words _"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!"_ repeated three times and underlined. He sighed and got up.

* * *

><p><strong>Fourth Floor Teacher's Lounge<strong>

"... Captain? I think you might want to take a look at this." The Doctor stepped aside from the window.

* * *

><p><strong>Class 2-A<strong>

The first thing Shinji noticed, as he stood on his toes and craned his neck to look out the windows from the back of the assembled crowd - _wasn't_ the column of smoke that leaked up to the sky in the distance. Nor was it the burning police car at the end of the street that was generating the fumes.

He didn't exactly see the hodgepodge of people - at least a hundred or more - that filled the school's parking lot, walking silently in staggered groups towards the main building. He didn't immediately spot that the crowd was mostly made up of students, wearing uniforms from all over the city, albeit with a good number of middle-aged professionals and subway workers.

The first thing that he noticed was the bone-white masks that half of the crowd was wearing. Or rather - he somehow knew immediately - that had _grown_ out through their faces.

They had two dark spots over the eyes and long, pointed chins. Like the skull of a bird.

* * *

><p><em>I know it's been a while here. If anyone's confused, I'd suggest you reread Episode 1.<em>


	18. Deleted Scene: Tea from Another Universe

Episode 5: Parent-Teacher Conference  
>Deleted Scene: Tea from Another Universe<p>

**Inside the TARDIS. Late August 2015. (The previous week).**

"There we are!" The Doctor pulled a small electric kettle out from underneath a loose floorboard. He danced around the large console at the center of the room. "Now, the real trick is figuring out where exactly to wire it in. Tried right beneath the time rotor once. Turned around, found the tea was already made! Brilliant, right? Self-pouring tea! - Well, not exactly self-pouring. Had to remember to pour it after the kettle was done, so the water could travel back and complete the loop. Still, convenient and all. Pity about all the Cherenkov radiation. Had some vacuuming to do after that, let me tell you..."

He turned and finally seemed to notice Shinji standing by the door, jaw open, staring at him. At the rust-colored room, a hundred times larger than the box outside. At the strange curving pillars that stretched from floor to roof. At the glass column at the room's center, surrounded by controls and switches and blinking lights. At the staircase off to the side, that led even further down to... somewhere.

"Oh, right." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "Questions, I expect? This is usually the point where questions come in."

Shinji swallowed. "How - how is this possible?" he asked, as evenly as he could manage.

"Ohhhh, nothing too complicated. It's just a bit of spacetime, segmented off from the rest and curled up into a ball." The Doctor darted back around the column, kettle in hand. "Okay, maybe a little bit complicated. She's called the TARDIS, by the way. I could explain how it works, but you'd probably need about four or five advanced degrees to keep up. Mostly from schools on other planets."

Shinji took what little he could understand from that. "You're from another planet?"

"Yep." The Doctor flipped a switch. "Well, not just another planet - from a whole 'nother _universe_, technically."

"Another... universe?"

"Right. Think parallel timelines, each with its own Earth and humanity and Shakespeare and Tokyo and sushi - _parallel_ sushi." The Doctor glanced at a screen that had been bolted on to the side of the column at a haphazard angle. "Put it another way - imagine an alternate world to your own. Most everything's the same, but there's just a bit that's different. Traffic lights are blue instead of green. Tony Blair wasn't Prime Minister. South won the American Civil War - that one's more common than you'd think, actually."

"... the what?" Shinji asked weakly.

"Far as I can tell right now, main difference between your world and the Earth I know is that Second Impact thing. Didn't happen in my reality. Well, that and the invasion by giant aliens. Plenty by normal-sized and largish aliens, mind you, but no great big giant ones. Well, not _too_ many, anyway... not to mention, there doesn't seem to be anyone like me around to put a stop to things."

The Doctor plugged the kettle into the back of the screen. A shower of sparks erupted from a small panel by his elbow. He grimaced and pulled the cord out. He glanced back up towards Shinji. "Anyway. Where was I again?"

Shinji opened his mouth, then closed it.

The Doctor snapped his fingers. "Parallel sushi. Right." He went to the console's side and started to pull out cables. "Now, seperate universes aren't supposed to interact with each other at all - not anymore, anyway. But there was a bit of a mixup on my side of things - bit of a, well, _paradox_. Blew a hole straight through my reality and into yours. Didn't actually know you could do that up until now. Probably for the best, that. Anyway, I went in to try to fix things. Wound up getting sucked down the rabbit hole, and here I am."

"... oh."

"Which leaves me in a great big ol' pickle, really." The Doctor pushed the kettle's plug into a clear tube that ran from behind one of the control panels. "Bit of a personal energy crisis. The TARDIS draws its power from the universe - _my_ universe, specifically. No other realities need apply. So I'm cut off." The kettle started to glow with a strange green light and float up off the console. The Doctor shook his head and broke the connection. "Good news is, that rift up above the city is leaking quite a bit of energy from back home. Well, good news for me, not so good for the universe - either of them. So if I can just gather up and filter enough of it out - You all right over there? You've been fairly quiet and all."

"Huh?" Shinji averted the Doctor's eyes. "S-sorry."

"Right." The Doctor sighed. "Sorry. Lot to take in, I know. I'm a bit rusty on the whole introductions thing. Been traveling on my own for a while now. Wasn't always like that. Used to knock about with some friends. But - well..."

"... travel..." Shinji stared out at the room. "This place _moves_?"

"Hohyes." The Doctor absentmindedly pulled a cable from out of the console. A handful of oxygen masks sprang out from the ceiling, where they hung limply from silver cords. He gave them an exasperated glance. "All of time and space in the blink of an eye. I'd take you for a spin, but like I was saying, we're a bit out of commission at the moment. See, the TARDIS pulled in some Void energy while we were crossing between worlds. Clogged up the power relays. It's a bit like food poisoning. I can clear them out if I can build up a big enough charge, but until then, she's rejecting anything I try to pull in..."

"Y-you." Shinji gulped. "Y-you talk about it like it's alive."

"That's because she is." The Doctor linked up the cable to the kettle's power cord. "Living timeship. Last of her kind in the whole wide universe. Well, last in _my_ universe. Here, I suppose, she'd be the first _and_ the last." He put his hand against the glass column. "Poor old girl. I put you through so much..."

Somehow - for some reason - that was it. Shinji felt something in the back of his mind buckle and fracture in two. He couldn't take anymore. He had to - he had to...

He bowed stiffly. The Doctor looked up at him in surprise.

"Please forgive me," Shinji said, as formally as he could manage. "I have - I need to go."

He then bolted through the doors and back into the world he knew, as fast as his feet could take him.

* * *

><p>The Doctor eyed the doors. He scratched the back of his head.<p>

Then the Fifth was standing beside him, arms crossed, a concerned expression on his face. "He's... not quite our usual sort of recruit, is he?"

From outside, there was the loud and unmistakable sound of a fourteen-year-old being violently sick into a gutter.

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "Yeahhhhh..."


	19. Episode 5 Part III

Episode 5: Parent-Teacher Conference  
>Part III: What are my child's strengths and weaknesses?<p>

**Fourth Floor Teacher's Lounge**

Misato gripped the edges of the window, her eyes wide, her nose pressed against the glass.

"How many other people were there on that train?" the Doctor asked. "Other than the ones Shinji and I met."

"Six," Misato found herself answering, much to her own surprise. "Three drivers, a conductor. Two students in the back car. All missing since."

"Looks like they found some friends, then. Catch."

Misato spun around and caught her purse out of mid-air. By the table, the Doctor pulled on his long brown coat. Shit, when had he gotten behind her? She raised the gun. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Think about it." The Doctor looked at her. "Why are they here? What's here that they'd want?"

Misato's brain kicked back in. She swore. "Where's Shinji and Rei?"

"Second floor. Come on!" They raced out into the corridor.

* * *

><p><strong>Class 2A<strong>

Shinji stood frozen in place, his hands trembling, the feeling of cold sweat on the back of his neck. Oh, God, not again, he thought. Please, not again. This isn't fair. The classroom was silent as everyone stared, slack-jawed, out of the windows.

Then Rei spoke. "NERV Command." She stood by her desk, a cell phone in her hand, the same calm expression as always on her face. "Identity confirmation three-one-aleph-seven Ayanami Rei. Reporting emergency code one. Angel incident in progress. Request instructions."

Someone towards the back of the room screamed. "Quiet! Stop that!" Hikari yelled, her voice quavering. She pulled out her own cell phone and franctically mashed at the buttons. "Don't panic! Remember the evacuation drills! We _can't panic!_"

Someone else started to scream. The door slid open. Shinji glanced back just in time to see two of the other boys run full-tilt out of the room.

He slowly turned his head back to the side. Next to him, Toji had his face screwed up, like he was trying to hold back a sneeze. Kensuke crouched down on the floor, his video camera clutched to his chest, a dazed look in his eyes.

"Kensuke," Shinji heard himself say.

His friend didn't look up. "Y-yeah?"

"Didn't you - weren't you talking about a movie like this the other day?"

"Oh. Yeah." Kensuke blinked. Then shot up onto his feet. "Oh! Yeah!"

* * *

><p><strong>Second Floor<strong>

The Doctor slammed the door to the stairwell shut behind them. He held the screwdriver up to the handle. It locked.

"What the hell is that?" the captain asked.

"It's a screw - look, does it really _matter_ right now - oh." He looked where she was pointing. Further down the hall, just before where the corridor turned to go into the building's other wing, a set of heavy plastic fire doors had been halfway pulled back from the walls. In front of them, a handful of desks had been turned down on their sides.

"Doctor! Misato!" Shinji stuck his head out from behind one of the desks, a relieved grin on his face.

"Shinji!" The captain took off down the hall towards him. The Doctor followed.

"Doctor -" Shinji stood up as they approached, his body shaking like a leaf in the wind. "Outside. They look just like the thing. That thing on the -"

"We -" the captain started.

"Yeah, I know." The Doctor cut her off. She shot him an annoyed glare. "You all right?"

"Yeah," Shinji said. "But what -"

"Captain Katsuragi!" Kensuke Aida tilted out from behind one of the fire doors and saluted.

Toji Suzuhara stepped out from between the doors, carrying a chair under one arm. He saw the Doctor and rolled his eyes. "Oh, great. She brought the crazy foreigner."

"Oi! Watch it!"

"Ooh, nice sidearm, Captain!" Kensuke gawked at the pistol in her hands. "Is that a HK Compact?"

"Not now," the captain said curtly. "Shinji, where's Rei?"

"Back in the classroom with the others." Shinji glanced down the hallway past the fire doors. "She was calling Headquarters when we left."

"Perfect." She leaned down and put her hands on his shoulders. "I need you to go back down there. Tell her to tell Makoto I want all the support he can get here as soon as possible. Police, security, JSSDF - whatever he can get. After that, tell the other kids to get together whatever weapons they can find. Got it?"

"Uhm. Yeah." Shinji glanced up past her, towards the Doctor.

The Doctor gave him a nod. "Go on," he said. "We'll be down in just a moment."

"O-Okay." Shinji squeezed past Toji through the gap in the fire doors and dashed off. Captain Katsuragi turned and looked at the Doctor, a strange mix of disbelief and envy on her face.

Which was interesting and all, but the Doctor really didn't have the time to deal with her right now. "Right," he said to the other two boys. "What's all this about, then?"

"Oh! Uh, standard zombie defense plan. Ma'am." Kensuke saluted the captain again as she stood back up. "Barricading all entrances and exits until we know the full extent of the plague. Allows us time to gather intel and take stock of our supplies."

The captain raised an eyebrow. "You have a zombie defense plan?"

"Well... yeah." Kensuke gave her a baffled look. "Why wouldn't I?"

The Doctor grinned. "Can't think of a single reason!" He took the chair from Toji and tossed it on top of the line of desks. "What about the stairwell on the other side? By the classroom?"

"Already blocked off." Kensuke pushed back his glasses. "Fire doors and everything. We went there first."

"Brilliant." The Doctor glanced down the hallway. "Let's get this part locked down, then. We can't have much time."

* * *

><p><strong>Class 2-A<strong>

Shinji slid the door open to the room and stopped short. Given the state of the class when he'd left, he hadn't expected to see everyone sitting quietly in their assigned seats. It probably had something to do with Hikari. She stood by the chalkboard, holding a chair up above her head, a half-crazed expression on her face.

He went to Rei. She'd taken out her book again. "Misato's here," he said. "With - um - Mr. Smith. She said to tell headquarters to call the police and the army."

"Already done." Rei turned the page. "The police are inbound. NERV and JSSDF are preparing response teams. ETA unknown."

"Did you say a teacher's here?" Hikari broke in, her voice high-pitched and uneven. Shinji nodded. She put down the chair and sagged her shoulders. "Oh, thank God."

Everyone in the room immediately jumped to their feet and started talking all at once. "That babe is here?" the kid with the big nose asked.

"Can she get us out of here?"

"Did she say anything else?"

"Umm -" Shinji tried to think. "Uhh - she said that we should try to find weapons. Just in case."

"Weapons? Like what?"

"Well, there's the cleaning brooms," the girl with the thick glasses said. She went to the supply closet in the corner of the room and opened the door.

She leapt back and screamed.

There was something inside the closet. Something with a bone mask. It reached out with gnarled fingers. "Hurt," it said in a soft voice.

Shinji wanted to help, or scream, or run. But he couldn't move. The thing grasped the girl by the shoulders. A cloud of sickly yellow smog burst out from its mask and into her face. She fell to the ground, gasping and choking.

It turned and scanned the rest of the classroom. Then lurched towards the next closest target -

- which happened to be Rei. She punched the thing in the chin, just underneath the point of its mask. It collapsed into a heap on the floor.

There was a brief pause as everyone stared at Rei, trying to process what had just happened.

"Nice shot, Rei!" Misato swept into the classroom, pistol at the ready, the Doctor at her heels.

"On the one hand, violence in school..." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "On the other hand, zombies in school..." He flipped a switch on the wall. The room's air conditioning came on. The cloud of yellowish smoke hovering in front of the supply closet began to dissipate.

Everything unpaused all at once. Shinji felt his knees buckle. He sat down on the floor and tried to breathe. Someone in the room started to cry. Someone else just repeated, over and over again, "ohgod ohgod ohgod ohgod..."

"Tomoe!" Hikari bolted towards the girl on the floor.

"Wait, wait!" The Doctor reached out and grabbed her sleeve. "Might not be safe yet, let the fans work -"

Toji burst into the room, a leg from one of the desks in hand. "What's going on? What happened?" Kensuke crept in nervously behind him with a heavy-looking textbook.

Misato fired her gun into the ceiling. "Everyone, quiet!" she roared - or at least that's what Shinji thought she said. He couldn't hear her over the ringing in his ears.

The room fell silent. Misato turned to Rei. "What did Command say? How soon can we expect reinforcements?"

"I don't know," Rei said. "Lieutenant Hyuga expected the police to arrive in ten to fifteen minutes. He and the JSSDF are currently pulling together additional personnel for a response. He said it was proving difficult, as most ground assets have been diverted north to assist with operations in the fallout zone. He will call as soon as he has more information."

Misato curled her hand into a fist. "They caught us off guard again. Unbelievable."

"Still breathing," the Doctor said quietly. He crouched down next to where Tomoe lay on the floor, two fingers held to the side of her neck. "Pulse is weak." He looked up at Hikari. "Move her over to the front of the room. Carefully."

Hikari turned to Toji and gave him a pleading look. He shrugged. Together, they went over to Tomoe.

The Doctor turned to where the thing from the closet lay. He flipped the screwdriver over in his hand. "Right. Let's see what we've got."

Shinji scrambled up onto his feet and went to the Doctor's side. Kensuke noticed him and followed.

The Doctor ran the screwdriver over the thing. Now that Shinji could see the creature clearly, he realized it was a boy, just a bit shorter than he was, wearing a high school uniform. Its limbs and arms were of normal size, and it was thin to the point that Shinji could see its ribs poking out through its shirt. It looked for all the world like a student who just happened to have a mask growing out of his - its - face.

Kensuke reached out with a finger to poke the thing in the head. The Doctor held up a hand. "Don't," he said. "Don't touch the flesh. Not until we know more." He pointed the screwdriver at its face. "Lesions and abnormalities in the frontal lobes. Major buildup of sensory neurons in the nose under the mask - blimey. He's practically a bloodhound." Under the blue light, Shinji noticed two small slits in the mask, right about where he supposed the boy's nostrils would be.

Kensuke glanced at the screwdriver. "What is that thing, anyway?"

"It's a screwdriver," Shinji said, almost automatically.

"What - really?"

"Special order," the Doctor said vaguely. "Got it off the Internet."

Kensuke stared at him. "There hasn't been an Internet in fifteen years."

"So that's why it took so long to get here. Last time I use the free shipping, let me tell you." The Doctor moved the device over the thing's chest. "Hydrogen bubbles throughout the bloodstream. Throughout the whole body, really. That's not good."

Kensuke shook his head. "So," he said. "What do you think caused it to rise as a zombie? Plague or outer space radiation?"

"Neither, I think." The Doctor tilted his head. "Look at the scarring on the temples and on the back of the arms. Looks to me like this was something _done_ to them - from the outside in. But that would take some kind of laboratory. Surgical equipment. High technology. Unless..."

"Really not interested in excuses right now, Makoto," Misato snapped. Shinji glanced back to see her talking into her cell phone to Lieutenant Hyuga. "I need backup here. _Now._" She tapped her foot against the floor. "Okay, say that again? What? How -" She lowered her voice. "How do you just lose contact with an entire SWAT team?"

The screwdriver buzzed. The Doctor brought it up and stared at it. "The whole digestive system's been changed. Rerouted and repurposed. The stomach, the intestines - they're all just one big sac of gas."

"I've had a few days like that," Kensuke said.

"Not like this, you haven't." The Doctor looked down at the thing, a strange expression on his face. "They're producing some kind of paralytic nerve agent. Small trace amounts of cyanide. Nasty stuff. Deadly, if you get too much in your lungs. Looks like they can expel it up through the esophagus and through the nose."

Shinji broke in. "Doctor, why do they all look like that thing we saw on the train? And what are they doing here?"

"Hard to say." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "If I had to guess - some kind of backup plan, I suppose? Angel must've put it into effect before we even ran into it. Used the drivers and the rest as raw materials. Programmed them to build up forces from the city's population, then track us down here." He stared down at the thing on the floor. "But if they have that many, why wouldn't they just... ?"

Which means they're here for me, Shinji thought. It's all my fault. Again. He gripped his knees and looked away.

He knew what he had to do. But he just - he couldn't -

"What are you talking about?" Kensuke stared at both of them. "What train?"

Suddenly, everything shook, like the entire building had been kicked in the gut. Misato immediately dropped the cell phone and pointed her gun at the door.

"What the hell was that?" Toji asked.

"That was the barricades." The Doctor jumped to his feet, his face pale. "We're out of time. They're in."


	20. Bonus Material: Math Notebook Excerpt

Episode 5: Parent-Teacher Conference  
>Bonus Material: Excerpt from the math notebook of S. Ikari<p>

_On the one hand, this could be really, really good. The Doctor could really help us with the Angels. Already has, I mean. And he's funny._

_On the other hand, though... what if he's trying to trick us? What if he's here to invade us, or steal from us? What if he's really an Angel, here to spy on us for the rest of them? I could get everyone killed._

_Should I tell Misato? If I did that, she might try to kill him. Or capture him to cut him up. That's what NERV does, right? They kill aliens. __We__ kill aliens, I guess..._

_I don't want that either._

_If father finds out about him, __he'll kill him__. No. I shouldn't think that way about father. I don't want to think that way about him._

_I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! __I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!_


	21. Episode 5 Part IV

Episode 5: Parent-Teacher Conference  
>Part IV: How does my child work in teams?<p>

"Hurt. _Hurt._"

The whispers of the horde outside the classroom filtered in through the thin wall. The shadows of a dozen hands pressed against the door. How many of the things were in the hallway by now? Shinji couldn't even guess. Maybe thirty. Maybe a hundred.

"Doors," the Doctor gasped out. He leaned against the various tables and chairs they'd hurriedly thrown against the room's entrance. "Big, thick doors. With locks. Bit impersonal, I know. All the same - I'd recommend them. None of this sliding business."

"That's not how we do things here," Misato snapped. She crouched with her back to the wall next to the door, gun held at the ready.

"I know, I know. I'm just saying, the benefits - awwww, don't do that. Don't -" Noxious yellow fumes started to pour through the cracks around the door. The Doctor pulled off his coat and stuffed it into the top railing. The rate of incoming smog lessened, though not by much.

"We're all going to die, aren't we."

The speaker was the big-nosed kid, his voice monotone, large inelegant tears rolling down his face. He and the rest of the class were huddled in the front of the room by the windows. Shinji himself sat on the floor, halfway between them and the two adults by the door. Rei stood in the back of the room, staring out into space.

Hikari reached over and smacked the big-nosed kid across the back of the head. "Of course we're not! The commander of NERV's here! She won't let anything happen to us!" She didn't sound very confident, Shinji couldn't help but notice.

Misato said nothing. She grimly drew the slider back on the handgun, then pulled her purse closer to her foot.

The big-nosed kid started to cry again. "Oh, God," the short-haired girl whispered. She clutched an ornate wooden cross to her chest. "Ohgodohgodohgodohgod..."

"CLASS!" the Doctor roared. "STAND!"

And Shinji suddenly found himself on his feet, along with the rest of the class. Even Misato stood up straight - then sat back down, a pained expression on her face.

"Right. Last time I make you do that, I promise." The Doctor crossed to the center of the room. "Look at me. Look at my face. You're my class. That puts you under my protection. Keep your wits about you, follow my lead, and I promise you - I will get every single one of you out of this alive."

The room was silent for a moment. Kensuke raised his hand. "Can you... do that?" he asked.

The Doctor grinned. "Watch and learn." He spun around. "Ms. Ayanami, help the captain mind the door. Shinji - see about getting those windows open. Should buy us some time against the gas." Shinji nodded. "Mr. Aida, if you would be so kind, sah, as to go into the first-aid kit in the supply closet. See if they've got any of those breath masks like you see on the subway. Everyone else, find something to cover your mouth and nose - handkerchiefs, piece of cloth, whatever you can find. And you - sorry, what's your name again? Hadn't called on you yet."

The big-nosed kid looked up. "S-sadahiko Kobayashi."

"Sadahiko. Good to meet you. What'd you bring for lunch today, Sadahiko?"

"L-lunch?" He blinked. "Uh, a bento box."

"What kind?"

"Um. Tuna sashimi. And edamame."

"Perfect." The Doctor smiled. "Go and fetch it for me, could you? Swap you my peanut butter for it. The rest of you lot - get ready to move in a few minutes. We're getting out of this room."

"How?" Toji asked.

"Working on it. Go!" The Doctor rushed over to the windows. Shinji followed him. The rest of the class started to move.

"Two story drop." The Doctor's eyes scanned over the parking lot outside. "Survivable. But - awwww, look at that." He pointed to the ground beside a white Toyota Cresta. Shinji could barely make out the shadow of a figure crouching behind the car. "At least a baker's dozen still down there. Probably more watching from the ground floor. Can't risk it. Not until the police get here."

Shinji glanced back over his shoulder at Misato as he pulled down one of the windows. She looked like she was trying to think. "What about your - the blue box?" he whispered. "Is there any way you could call it here, or something?"

"Nah," the Doctor muttered back. "And even if I did, no power, remember?" He clapped his hands together and said in a louder tone of voice, "Right. Intru-dah-windows is out. What else do we got? Think, think, think." He paced back towards the center of the rooms, tussling his hair. "Walls, ceiling, floor - all reinforced concrete. Too thick to resonate. Except for the one keeping the zombies out. That's wood and drywall..."

Misato jerked her head up. "Wait, drywall?" She put her hand against the wall.

"- air ducts too small to crawl through," the Doctor continued. "That's a first, actually. No garbage chute. No maintenance hatches. No teleports. No gift shop... Blimey, no little shop. That should've been my first warning right there..."

She started to go through her purse. "Doctor Smith," she said. "I think I have something."

The Doctor didn't seem to notice. "Can't tunnel, we're on the second floor. Not enough time to build a hang glider... Or enough gaffa tape, for that matter..."

"Doctor Smith!" Misato barked.

Shinji turned away from the window he had opened partway. "Err, Doctor..."

"Okay, no easy way out, so maybe focus on _them_ instead. Poison-gas bloodhounds on two legs - how do you fight that? Set off the fire alarms? Nah, it's not like they're giant bats..."

Misato's sunglass case flew through the air and bounced squarely off the Doctor's nose. "Ow! What was that for?" He glanced down at the offending object. "- wait. Disney's Little Mermaid brand? Seriously?"

"Doctor Smith." Misato pulled something out of her purse. "I have a plan."

* * *

><p>The classroom wall screamed as Misato stuck in the thin blade to make the final cut. The device in her hands looked like a boxcutter of some sort. Shinji couldn't help but think that it looked somehow familiar, though he couldn't recall seeing anything quite like it before.<p>

He stood in between the Doctor and Toji, clinging to the side of the wall to steady it as Misato finished up. He tried to ignore the itch on his nose where the breath mask he wore rubbed up against it. There had been enough in the supply closet for everyone in the room - except the Doctor, who had donned a tie-dye bandito mask he'd pulled out from the pockets of his coat.

Misato pulled the knife from out of the wall near the floor. She stood up, clipping the device to her belt and drawing her handgun.

"Give it a moment," the Doctor whispered. Shinji strained his ears. He could hear the things in the corridor shuffling around, and a slight hiss as the yellowish smoke started to seep through the new cracks.

"Right." The Doctor looked back to the rest of the class. "Remember, wait until I say go. Then all of you run for the back stairwell. Just run. Don't look back. Sweepers -" He nodded to Rei and Hikari, both of whom held a broom. "- out in front. Clear a path for everyone. Kensuke, you go behind them. Get those fire doors open. Captain, you and I'll stay back and cover them as long as we can." Misato gave him a curt nod. "Right, then. Everyone ready?"

"Are we allowed to say no?" Sadahiko asked, his voice muffled through the breath mask. He stood holding Tomoe's limp form piggyback-style, her arms tied with strips of cloth to his shoulders. Hikari glared at him.

"Only if I get to say it first." Somehow, Shinji could tell the Doctor was grinning again underneath the mask. "Right. In that case... _allons-y_!"

He started to push. Shinji took a deep breath - or as deep as he was willing to take, what with the gas - and strained as hard as he could against the wall. For a moment, it didn't seem to budge. Then there was a cracking sound.

The majority of the classroom wall fell down into the hallway outside. There was a muffled crash as a few hundred kilos of drywall pinned the things standing behind it to the floor.

The Doctor pointed his screwdriver at the ceiling. The fire sprinklers in the hallway burst on, the water sweeping the yellow smog out of the air where it fell. "GO!" he barked.

Shinji stumbled out into the sudden downpour. The thin amount of poisonous smog left in the air stung his eyes. He felt something moving, or trying to move, underneath the wall below his feet. He also saw at least a half-dozen of the things still standing in the hallway by the classroom door. One of them - a scarecrow-thin salaryman without a mask - lurched out towards him.

Then Rei was by his side. She jabbed the thing in the face with the end of her broom, then effortlessly knocked out its legs out with the handle. It fell to the side.

"MOVE, Shinji!" Misato shoved him down the hallway. Shinji ran. The scene in front of him was chaos. He could see most of the class sprinting in front of him. Off to one side, Toji slammed one of the things down with his desk leg, screaming at the top of his lungs. Shinji glanced back over his shoulder. The salaryman had struggled back onto its feet. He saw Misato approach it, her gun raised.

"NO, WAIT!" The Doctor reached out towards Misato, his eyes suddenly as wide as dinner plates. "DON'T!"

She pulled the trigger -

- and the salaryman _exploded_. Its body evaporated in a blinding flash of light and fire, thick yellow smoke flooding the end of the hallway. The blast threw Misato back a meter into the air and onto the floor. Shinji stopped in his tracks and turned back. He could just barely hear himself screaming or shouting something. Two masked high schoolers leapt out of the miasma, reaching and grasping at her. She kicked out at one of them, caught it in the chest, pushed it back - the other grabbed her leg and started to pull her back into the smoke -

Then a piece of chalk came whistling through the air and beaned the thing right in the temple. It lurched back, letting go of her. The Doctor jumped in and put a single hand over its masked face. It abruptly spasmed and fell to the ground, its arms and legs twitching.

The Doctor turned and held out his hand to Misato. "Come on!" She grabbed his wrist and let him pull her back up onto her feet.

Shinji skidded to a halt in front of them. "Are you -"

"I'm fine, Shinji!" Misato waved him off. "Just get to the door!"

"You heard the captain! Go! We'll be right behind -" The Doctor glanced over his shoulder. The other high schooler - the one Misato had kicked - was getting back up. "Could I have that back now?"

"Oh - yeah." Misato let go of the Doctor's arm.

"Thank you -" The Doctor turned and hurled another stick of chalk right between the thing's eyes. It fell back onto the floor. "Fire hose. Two doors down the hall on the left -"

"On it." Misato shook her head, as if to clear it. "Shinji, _go_!"

Shinji opened his mouth to say something, but then three more masked things emerged from the smog, and Misato pulled the knife off of her belt, and the words flew out of his head. He turned and ran.

* * *

><p>He turned the corner to find Rei waiting for him by the open fire doors. "The adults?" she asked.<p>

"They're coming."

Rei nodded.

"It won't open!" Toji shouted, his voice on the edge of hysteria. "It's locked!"

The rest of the class clumped together by the entry to the stairwell. Toji pounded frantically against the heavy metal door. It didn't budge.

Shinji glanced down the hall. No sign of the Doctor or Misato yet. He felt his hands start to twitch.

"Excuse me," Rei said. She stepped in front of Toji. She put her right hand on the door, just beside the handle. Holding onto the frame with her left, she started to push.

One of the girls giggled nervously. "Ayanami," Kensuke said. "That's - that's really not going to work. It's _steel_ -"

There was a sound not unlike a beer can being slowly crushed. Then the door's lock tore free from the frame.

The giggling stopped. "Holy smeg," Kensuke breathed.

"Well, _yeah_. After I loosened it for her." Toji crossed his arms.

Rei stepped back, rubbing her wrist. Shinji couldn't help but notice that she'd left her handprint embedded in the door.

There was the sound of scrambling from down the hall. Shinji jerked his head up just in time to see the Doctor and Misato sprint around the corner and leapt the line of desks in the middle of the hallway.

The Doctor pointed the screwdriver at the door as he ran up. "Sorry, sorry," he gasped out. "Stupid thing, forgot I locked it -" He stopped short as he noticed the door was already ajar. "- oh." He saw the handprint and raised his eyebrows. "_Oh._"

"Everyone, stand back!" Misato pushed her way through the class to the entryway. She took something out of her purse. In one fluid motion, she cracked open the door, tossed the object into the stairwell, and pulled the door shut.

"Wait." The Doctor stared at her. "Was that a _hand grena_ -"

There was a massive, dull burst of sound inside the stairwell. Flames licked the edges of the door, then subsided.

Misato kicked open the door, gun held out in front of her. She walked out onto the scorched landing - then stopped short. Down the stairs below them, Shinji could hear the sound of footsteps, and a cacophony of voices repeating that same miserable word over and over again. "_Hurt._"

"Third floor!" Kensuke suddenly yelled from the back of the class. He hopped nervously from foot to foot. "Trust me! Go to the third floor!"

The Doctor eyed the stairs down. "Works for me."

"Everyone, up to the next floor!" Misato shouted. "Move it!"

They ran up the stairs, the chorus of tortured moans growing ever closer.

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_Gaffa tape: A.K.A. gaffer tape. Stronger, more expensive version of duct tape invented by the British. Used in film and television production. Basically the best stuff ever._


	22. Episode 5 Part V

Episode 5: Parent-Teacher Conference  
>Part V: What challenges will my child be expected to master?<p>

The next few minutes happened on fast forward for Shinji. When the world resumed normal play, he found himself huddled – sopping wet, heart pounding, legs aching – on the floor of the corridor. The rest of the class crowded around him, leaning against the walls or lying on the ground, exhausted. The fire doors between them and the stairwell had been shut and – for good measure – backed with a pile of desks that reached up nearly to the ceiling.

Also, the Doctor seemed to be yelling at Misato.

"A _hand grenade_? In a _school_?!"

"Don't be such a baby," Misato said irritably. "It was just a flashbang."

"Just a –! You coulda killed us all!"

She grumbled something under her breath.

The Doctor rubbed his temples. "Strewth, you military types are always hard work... Listen, you even saw it for yourself. Those people downstairs are saturated with hydrogen! Anything – any sort of heat or shock – could set them off!"

"Saturated with... Wait. You _KNEW_ they explode?!"

"Well, I –"

Misato's eye started to twitch.

"– I – look, all right, maybe I forgot to bring it up."

Misato ground her teeth together. "You. _Forgot_."

"I had a lot on my mind down there! I can't think of everything!" The Doctor crossed his arms. "Besides, I didn't think you'd just start shooting people!"

"I had a _gun_! What else was I gonna do?! _Hug_ them?!"

"Oi! Don't knock it until you've tried it!"

"God, would they just shut up and get a room already," Toji grumbled. He looked upset.

"Seriously," Hikari murmured. She typed rapidly into her cell phone, her eyes flickering over the screen.

Misato growled and turned away. "Just – go buzz the doors again or something!" She stomped off down the hall.

The Doctor made a face at her back, then shook his head. "Right. Pardon me, then –" He waded into the pile of exhausted students and pointed his screwdriver at the wall above Shinji's head.

"What're you doing?" Shinji wheezed. His throat felt scratchy.

The Doctor glanced down at him. "Reversing the electromagnets on the fire doors. Should give them a bit more oomph if someone tries knocking them down."

Shinji nodded. That made sense, he supposed. "Back downstairs," he said. "When you - you put your hand over that one thing's mask, and it fell down."

"Oh, right." The Doctor grinned.

"How'd you do that? Did you - like - pinch its nerves, or something?"

"Nah. Well, kinda." The Doctor held up his left hand. Shinji could see a thick green paste spread across his palm. "Wasabi from that lunch pack. Shoved a bit of it up his nose. Don't think he'll be smelling too much for a while..."

Kensuke started to laugh. It turned into a coughing fit about halfway through. "You - you made an anti-zombie weapon out of _wasabi_? That's – that's _awesome_."

"Yeaaahhhh, about that." The Doctor tugged his ear. "Didn't want to say anything until we were out of trouble – but you _really_ shouldn't call them zombies."

"What?" Kensuke tilted his head to the side, perplexed. "Why?"

"Because they're not dead." The Doctor lowered the screwdriver. "Oh, they've been reprogrammed on the neural and genetic level - twisted and lobotomized - but they're still people, basically."

Kensuke made a sound of horror and disgust. "You mean - they're _fast zombies_?"

"Oh, come on!" Toji broke in. "So we're supposed to start worrying about _them_ now?"

"Right," Kensuke said. "I mean, we can't – it's not like they're human anymore, right?"

The Doctor gave him a sad look. "Back on the last floor – did you get a good look at their feet?"

"Their _feet_?" Kensuke tilted his head to the side. "Um. No..."

"They weren't wearing any shoes." The Doctor turned and pointed the screwdriver at the opposite wall. "They had them when they came in. So why'd they all stop to take them off?"

Kensuke blinked. Then swallowed and looked down, ashen-faced.

"... so what?" Toji asked.

"Meaning they stopped to take their shoes off because that's what people do here. Well –" The Doctor glanced down at his trainers. "'Cept me, that is. It's a conditioned response. Like standing up when the teacher comes in, or raising your hand to ask a question.

"And if something like that could make it through the programming... well... might take some time. But could be that it'd all come back, given the chance..."

That couldn't be right, Shinji thought. They had to be things. They had to be _its_. Because if they weren't – if they were actually _people_, or could be –

He thought about the face of the salaryman downstairs, just before Misato had shot him. Then he thought about the First Angel, looking up at him almost mournfully as the Eva tore it to shreds...

He gagged and started to pull himself to his feet. He couldn't think about that now. If he did, his mind would break in half. He had to _do_ something...

The Doctor noticed him stand and reached out. "Waitwaitwait – take it slow. All of you, take it slow. You've got less lung capacity than me – gas is going to affect you more –"

Shinji waved him off, coughing. "I'm okay. Really. We're going to need more desks for the other side, right?..."

He stumbled over to the next classroom down the hall and slid open the door. He promptly found himself staring down the barrel of a very large gun.

* * *

><p>Misato turned the hallway corner and stopped short. The corridor had already been barricaded, desks and chairs stacked in neat columns behind the fire doors. She glanced around and walked forward another few steps.<p>

"Area is clear, Captain," Rei said from behind her.

Misato tried her best not to flinch as she turned around. What was it with people sneaking up on her today? "Rei," she said. "Did you do all of this by yourself?"

"Yes, ma'am."

It was times like these that reminded Misato just how little she knew about Rei. Oh, she was an excellent soldier - well-trained, polite, incredibly disciplined for her age - but there was something about the girl that made the captain feel vaguely uneasy. "It would have been helpful if I'd known you could do this, Rei."

"I apologize. I was told it was to be considered non-mission-critical information unless necessary."

Orders from the commander, no doubt. Maybe there really was such a thing as being _too_ disciplined. Misato scratched her chest. "I heard some things on my last assignment," she said conversationally. "There were some rumors of genetic engineering experiments on human DNA. Artificial evolution, cybernetic enhancement, that sort of thing."

"I see." Rei's face stayed perfectly still.

Back down the hall, Shinji screamed. Misato looked up. Rei was already a blur in the air, heading towards the source of the sound. At least we have that in common, then, the captain thought. She sprinted after her.

* * *

><p>Pressing himself against the hallway wall, Shinji solemnly promised himself that never again would he open a door. <em>Ever<em>.

"Oh, it's you, Ikari." Elderly Mr. Kongo the science teacher peered at him over the sights of the jet-black shotgun. Behind him, a number of third-year students nervously gawked at Shinji. "Good, good."

"Mr. Kongo. Good to see you, sir," the Doctor snapped. "Now, would you mind not pointing that thing at a student? _Two_ students," he added as Rei suddenly appeared between Shinji and the end of the barrel.

"If you insist." The old teacher lowered the rifle.

"You made it. Good." Further down the hallway, Misato let the hand holding the pistol fall to her side.

"Oh, so you're here too, Katsuragi." Mr. Kongo looked at her. "I was wondering who put a bullet into the floor of my classroom."

She grimaced. "Eh-heh. Sorry."

The Doctor eyed the rifle. "Semi-automatic shotgun. Italian make. Military-grade. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't think I recall that being covered in the benefits package."

"It's okay. He's with NERV," Misato said. "He's part of the security detail we have assigned to the school."

"Military training and an education degree," the Doctor said. "That must make for one hell of a CV."

The old teacher shrugged. "They didn't hire me to teach math."

"What's your status here?" Misato asked.

"All third years accounted for." Mr. Kongo pointed his thumb back to the classroom behind him. "Also managed to collect the parents on this floor, plus a few that wandered down from the fourth after the attack started."

Misato looked to the Doctor. "How many people are there in the school?"

"Just the A sections of each grade today. So – ninety students, maybe? Plus faculty and the parents..." The Doctor winced and covered his eyes. "Urraggch. And the first years would've all been on the ground floor. Stupid. Didn't even think of that..."

Misato nodded gravely. "All right. Next order of business, then."

She raised her gun and pointed it at the Doctor.

Shinji froze. Oh, God, he thought. She _knows_. "M-Misato?" he asked. "Wha - what are you doing?" Rei quietly stepped back away from the Doctor. Mr. Kongo raised an eyebrow, but did nothing.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "This again? Seriously?"

"Who _are_ you?" Misato demanded. "There's no way in hell you haven't been trained for this."

The Doctor tilted his head. "Welllllllll – training, experience..."

"And the MAGI system has nothing on you! No history, no identity. Just enough false data to avoid tripping any security flags. That takes resources. At the very least the backing of a major power." Misato steadied her grip on the pistol. "And in case you haven't noticed, Doctor – I'm not in a position today where I can afford to have unknown factors hanging around at my back."

The Doctor sighed. "Oh, fine. If we have to do this, then –" He pulled the leather wallet out of his pocket and tossed it to her.

Misato caught it. She flicked her eyes to the piece of paper and back. "You work for the _UN_?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I _consult_. Sometimes."

"United Intelligence Taskforce... ?" Misato stared into the wallet. Shinji snuck a look at it. The paper still looked blank to him. "Never heard of it."

"Well. Then someone must be doing their job, obviously."

Misato narrowed her eyes. "Even assuming that's true, why all the secrecy? You could have just told us who you were."

"I have... some concerns about your organization." Misato opened her mouth. The Doctor raised a hand. "And let's – just leave it at that for right now. We should probably do something about the mortal danger we're in before we get into another row, shouldn't we."

Misato's cell phone rang. She glared at the Doctor, then reached to pull it out. "Must be some concerns if you're willing to play games while the entire world's at risk." She flipped open the cell phone.

Shinji could barely hear Lt. Hyuga's voice say something through the speaker. Misato's mouth curved into a grim smile. "Excellent." She turned away from the phone and looked at Kongo. "Army's here."

The old teacher snorted. "They call that a response time? What a disgrace."

"Don't get me started." Misato went back to the phone. "We're on the third floor, Makoto. I want teams on the roof and on the ground floor. Rubber bullets only –"

"Nonono, wait, wait!" The Doctor leapt forward and took Misato by the shoulders. Surprised, she dropped the phone and pressed the handgun to the underside of his chin. "Listen to me. You have to hold them off. Establish a perimeter, cordone off the school, but don't enter. Not yet."

"What?! Why?!"

"Trust me." The Doctor glanced down at the gun. "Or better yet, don't. Have your scientists run the numbers. If every one of that lot downstairs is generating hydrogen, they've still got more than enough biomass to bring down this entire building."

"Oh, are you _freaking kidding me_?!" Toji shouted, his voice hoarse. He and Kensuke leaned against the wall a few meters away.

"One, let go of me," Misato snapped. The Doctor obligingly held up his hands. "Two, if that's the case – why don't they just do it?"

"I don't know," the Doctor said. "Something in their programming. Some kind of secondary objective, maybe. But bring down too much force on them – how much you want to bet they'll go to Plan B?"

Misato stared at him. On the floor, Shinji could hear Lt. Hyuga yelling something through the cell phone. She glanced down at it, then looked the Doctor in the eye. "We're not finished with this conversation."

"Fine. But I'm begging you – just help me keep them safe. Please."

She looked away and sighed. Reluctantly, she lowered the gun, then bent down to pick up the cell phone. "I'm fine, Makoto," she said into it. "It's all right. Listen, hold off on those previous orders, okay? I need to talk to Ritsuko."

She turned away from the Doctor. Shinji let out a long breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. The Doctor stepped back and absentmindedly scratched the back of his head. "Something else," he muttered. "There's something else I'm missing." He looked over at Kensuke. "Back in the stairwell, you told us to go to this floor. This floor in particular. Why?"

Kensuke shook his head. "'s the plan," he said. "The defense plan. The next step was to take this floor."

"Why?"

Kensuke pointed past the Doctor to a door at the end of the hallway. The sign above it read: CHEMISTRY LAB.

The grin on the Doctor's face was so wide, Shinji wondered if his head was going to split in two. "Awwwww, _brilliant_."

"Pretty good, right?" Kensuke said, a bit more animation in his voice. "Figured we could use it to make bombs or acid weapons or something..."

"Weapons?" The Doctor was doing that thing where his voice went all squeaky again, Shinji noticed. "Who needs weapons? We've got SCIENCE! COME ON!"

He dashed down the hallway, giggling slightly under his breath.

* * *

><p><em>I believe that TV Tropes refers to the sort of thing that just happened as "locking MacGyver in the store cupboard."<em>

_Not going to apologize for the length between updates here. I'm writing for free here, life happens, etc., etc._

_Did wonder about the timing of this update, given this episode's theme and the recent events in Connecticut. In the end, decided that that was even more reason people could use a bit of distraction._

_Also, in case this wasn't implicitly clear to the Eva fans – yes, Mr. Kongo is intended to be the elderly teacher that gives Shinji's class that one lecture on Second Impact. He's appearently just called "Nebukawa no Sensei"/"Teacher from Nebukawa" in the script, so I had to come up with some kind of name for him. Figured that this one - it's the name of an older WWII battleship - seemed appropriate._


	23. Episode 5 Part VI

Episode 5: Parent-Teacher Conference  
>Part VI: How will my child be evaluated?<p>

The next thing Shinji knew, they were all crowded outside of the door to the chemistry lab. Even Misato stood off to the side, cell phone pressed to her ear, a sour expression on her face. Shinji tried not to look at her.

The Doctor had shut the door behind him. Inside the lab, Shinji heard cabinets being thrown open and objects being tossed around, punctuated, every now and again, with the sound of something expensive shattering into pieces.

"Hey, Shinji." Toji poked him in the back. "Look – just who the hell is this guy?!"

"Is he really – like – a secret agent for the UN?" Kensuke asked, a fascinated gleam in his eye.

Shinji shrugged. "Um. I guess."

"Do you think we can trust him, though?" Hikari whispered. Her eyes darted to the lab door and back. "I mean, I know he's a teacher, but..."

"Uh..." Shinji scratched the back of his head. "I think we should listen to him."

"So he actually knows what he's doing? He's not just some kind of crazy person from off the street?"

Shinji hesitated. "I... I think we should listen to him."

The Doctor flung the lab door open. "Shinji? Perfect!" He shoved a pile of plastic into Shinji's arms. "Here, put this on. Ms. Ayanami – I need you to check this whole floor. Bring me any cleaning bleach you can dig up." Rei nodded and disappeared. "Captain – what's the word?"

Misato crossed her arms. "The science division is still running simulations. But it seems that you _might_ have a point."

"Brilliant!" The Doctor grinned. "Love it when that happens. Well, not that there was any doubt. But the peer review's always nice." Misato rolled her eyes. "Now - I think I can put something together in here. But I'm going to need a good half-hour or so. Think you can hold the barricades that long?"

"Depends. What kind of something are we talking about?"

"Chemical mixture." The Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose. "Nonlethal. Aerosal-based. Won't affect any of us, but should react with the hydrogen in that other lot's bloodstreams. Keep them from detonating themselves while sedating them. We'll have to flood the building with it somehow. Maybe push it out through the heating vents..."

"We're closer to the cooling tower on the roof," Misato said. "That way, we'll at least have air support."

"Fine. Just be careful - there's no telling what might set them off. And non-lethal ordinance only! I mean it!" Misato narrowed her eyes. The Doctor grinned again and rubbed his hands together, without any apparent concern for the fact that he'd just ordered the city's military commander around as he would a waitress. Shinji winced. "Right, then! No time to waste!" He vanished back into the lab.

They all stared at the lab door for a moment. Misato shook her head angrily. "God," she growled under her breath. "Why do the cute ones always have to be so much damn trouble?"

Shinji looked up at her. "Wait, what?"

"Nothing. Never mind." She turned and marched down the hallway. Kongo shrugged and trudged after her.

Shinji watched her go, then looked down at what the Doctor had handed him. It took him a second to recognize it as a bright yellow hazardous materials suit, like he'd seen in movies, complete with a bulky transparent hood and an attached respirator. He blinked. Maybe the Doctor wanted him to help out in the lab, or something?...

"Um, Shinji?" Kensuke coughed awkwardly. "Been meaning to ask... could you do me a favor?"

"Uh, sure. What?"

"I - I know you're a lot more used to this than we all are, but - ummm... would you mind not _smiling_ so much? You're really creeping everyone out."

"Oh, God, yeah," Toji agreed. Hikari nodded.

"I'm _what_?!" Shinji immediately covered his mouth with one hand. The corners of his lips hurt. Oh. Oh, God. Was he actually getting _used_ to this? "I'm - why would I - I'm - I'm sorry. I didn't even know I was –"

"Yeah, it's okay. Really." Kensuke held up his hands. "Just – yeah."

They retreated down the hallway, leaving Shinji standing alone by the lab door. He looked down at the hazmat suit in his hands. His reflection in the hood stared back at him.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" he asked.

* * *

><p>Shinji sat in the hallway next to the lab door, wrapped head-to-toe in bright yellow plastic – and more besides, as the suit was at least two or three sizes too large for him. The Doctor had yet to reappear.<p>

There was the sound of a door opening. Shinji raised his head. But instead of the Doctor, he saw Misato step out from one of the classrooms down the hall. "– after that, get in touch with Mikhail Kerenski at the Russian branch. See if he can get ahold of any of that one chemical agent they used at Beslan," she said into the cell phone. Shinji noticed that she held the Doctor's wallet open in her other hand. "And could you run that ID code I gave you through the database a few more times? Just to be sure? – Great. Thanks. I'll be in touch." She hung up and sighed, then leaned up against the hallway wall, staring into the distance.

Shinji felt like he needed to say something. "His - his name's not John Smith."

Misato twisted around with a start. She obviously hadn't seen him there.

"Oh, sorry." Shinji pulled back the hood.

Misato let out a breath. "Oh. It's you, Shinji." She shifted her eyes away from him.

"Um. Yeah." Shinji swallowed. "So, um. It's not really Doctor Smith or anything like that. It's just the Doctor."

"Just 'the Doctor'?" Misato wrinkled her brow. "You don't think that's a little weird?"

Shinji shrugged.

They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Shinji took a deep breath. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about him. He asked me not to and - I didn't know what to do."

Misato set her jaw. "It's fine, Shinji."

"It... is?"

"Yeah, it's..." Misato crossed her arms and turned her head away from him. "It's just that – I guess I'd just hoped, after everything that's happened..."

Shinji looked down at the floor, a sick sort of feeling in his stomach. God. Couldn't she just have done the skull thing?

She shook her head. " – look, forget about it. It doesn't matter right now. We'll talk after we're out of this mess. Right now, I need a word with – whatever his name is."

She crossed past him to the laboratory door.

"Look, just –" Shinji burst out. "Just don't kill him, okay? Please. He's been nice to me. And I just want – I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Yeah, well..." Misato opened the door. "... that's life."

She stepped into the room and shut the door behind her.

* * *

><p>Misato hesitated on the other side of the door. Shit. Why the hell had she just said that? Stupid. It's not like she had any intention of killing the man – well, okay, unless he attacked her or exploded or turned into an Angel or something...<p>

Her scars were itching again. She pushed it all out of her head. Worry about it later – get Shinji out of this first – focus on the mission. Game time. She squared her shoulders and turned towards the room.

The lab had obviously seen better days. The tables were covered with half-dismantled machinery and improvised equipment. Just in front of her, an alembic spun around on what remained of a CD player, while a metal wastepaper basket stewed away over a gas burner. Bare wires and glass tubes stretched around the room, up to the ceiling and back down again. The Doctor stood on the other side of the room, head down, pointing that... beeping, whirly thing at a beaker.

For a moment, she thought he hadn't heard her come in. Then he said, without looking up: "So. What news from the front, General?"

"Nothing," she said. She put his ID card down on the closest table. "No sign of the enemy on either side. They seem to be very quiet, all of a sudden."

"A little too quiet, you mean?"

"Is there any other kind?" Misato tossed her head. "Any guess what they're up to?"

"Nothing good. Other than that..." The Doctor shook the beaker. Apparently satisfied, he put it down on the table and connected it to some of the tubing.

"So this gas you're making – do you really think it'll work?"

"Of course it will. Why wouldn't it?"

"If I hadn't seen Uenohara..." Misato shrugged. "We'll give it a shot. But just so we're clear – if it doesn't get the job done, I'm flooding the building with nitrous oxide."

"Won't work, but knock yourself out." The Doctor paused. "Well, don't _literally_ knock yourself out, but – oh, see, that's almost clever. Wish I'd done that on purpose now."

Misato allowed herself to smirk. Just a little.

An electric rice cooker on the table started to whistle. The Doctor grabbed a nearby spatula and whacked it until it stopped.

"So, look..." She crossed her arms. "It's possible that I might have come on a little strong earlier..."

"No! You really think?!"

"– but look at it from my point of view. I still don't understand why you did things this way. NERV's fully chartered by the UN. Why would you choose to manipulate Shinji instead of contacting us directly?"

"Well, _manipulate_ is a bit of a – look, could this wait?" The Doctor turned around. He suddenly looked very tired. "I still need to put another compression cell together. And all I've got left on hand is a vacuum cleaner and a box of sporks."

Misato stuck out her chin. "So explain it to me quickly, then. Why would the UN keep secrets from NERV in the middle of a war?"

"Well – that is –" The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "The Convention against Child Soldiers aside, you mean?"

She stared at him. "Are you... is that _seriously_ what this is about? That's your _concerns_?!"

The Doctor opened his mouth, then looked away.

"That's – is that all?" She had to repress the urge to laugh. "Do you actually think we _choose_ to do things this way? What kind of stupid monsters do you think we are, anyway?"

"Well –"

"I mean - do you think I _like_ this?" It occurred to Misato that she was shouting. It also occurred to her that she didn't care. "Do you think I _enjoy_ sending kids into combat? Do you seriously think I wouldn't take Shinji's place in a _heartbeat_ if I could?!"

The Doctor turned away from her.

"But I can't. No one can. There's an entire hospital up north filled with soldiers who tried and failed. I've been there. I've seen it myself. This is our _only_ choice. The Evas are our only hope against the Angels. The Children are the only ones who can control the Evas.

"So what do you want me to do instead? Keep Shinji away from danger? Even if it gets all of us, including him, killed? Or should I help him fight for his only chance – _our_ only chance – to survive? Because let me make myself clear, Doctor – it might be easy for you to stand on the sidelines and judge us for our methods. But I don't get to sacrifice the entire human race just so I can sleep better at night."

"So why the panic attacks?" the Doctor asked quietly.

That caught her off guard. "What?"

"The panic attacks Shinji keeps having." The Doctor stood up straight by the lab table, his back to her. "If he's as important as you say he is, why isn't he being treated for that? Why would you let that go by?"

Misato narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about? What attacks?"

"Oh, don't talk like you don't know about it. Any routine exam would pick it up, and besides, it's not like you don't have this whole city bugged from top to bottom." He was speaking rapid-fire now, almost too fast for her to keep up with. "Now, sure, you could be worried about medication interactions with the neural interface, but that's something you'd be able to test or compensate for. And wouldn't it be worth the risk, anyway? Even from just a functional point of view. Wouldn't do to have him panicking in the driver's seat, now, would it?

"Then there's that law. The one that keeps people outside the system from talking to him. Why would you do that? Why would you do _more_ to isolate him? More than he already is, even."

The itching from her scars started to spread outward. She distractedly scratched at them. "I don't know... operational security, mostly. Does it matter?"

"It _matters_ –" – and there was a new sort of edge in the Doctor's voice now that she hadn't heard before, not even when she'd been pointing a gun in his face – "– because humans are innately social creatures. Even people like Shinji. _Especially_ people like Shinji. You need each other, the same way you need oxygen. Support from others makes you live longer, process trauma better. So why would you deny him that? Why would you expect him to fight for the human race, on his own, without knowing anything about the people he's supposed to save?"

"I didn't! I don't!" Misato shouted. "And – and – that's what the school is for..." Why was she even listening to this crap? (And what the hell did he mean by _you_?) This was insane. She hadn't left Shinji alone. She'd tried to help him, tried her best, invited him into her home...

... except...

... except that had been _her_ idea, hadn't it. The Commander and the others – they'd all been perfectly willing to let Shinji go off and live completely on his own before she'd stepped in...

She felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her side. She reached out and grabbed the spot. What the hell - the scars hadn't actually _hurt_ like this in years...

The Doctor snorted. "Oh, sure. Budget the size of a small country, and the best you can do for him is send him to _middle school_? Don't get me wrong, it's a start, but plenty of issues to sort out there without the giant robots thrown in. Now, I might just be able to chalk all that up to simple incompetence, if it wasn't for one thing. Just one tiny little thing.

"Psychology doesn't exist here. No textbooks, journals or self-help pamphlets in the libraries. Not a single counselor, psychiatrist, neurologist, support group or suicide hotline in the phone book. No information on the local computer networks. And it's not like you lot never had Freud or the DSM here, because trust me, _I checked_.

"City of the future, with a big international presence? Governed by computers running predictive behavior models? That's no accident. _That's design_."

The pain spread outward to the rest of her chest. What was going on here? Misato clutched her ribs. "What - what are you saying?"

"I'm saying someone built an entire city with the idea of leaving one fourteen-year-old boy with absolutely nowhere to turn to. Oh, given just enough to keep him useful, maybe, but not enough – never enough – to save him. Stuck in the middle of a darkest hour that never ends. But why would you do that? If he's supposed to save the world, why would you set him up to _fail_?"

Misato tried to say something, but it suddenly felt like her lungs were on fire. Like she couldn't breathe...

"The answer, of course," the Doctor said, "is that you wouldn't... unless the point was to _break him_."

The Doctor turned towards her. And Misato couldn't help but take a step back. Nothing in his tone had prepared her for the pure, elemental _rage_ etched on every line of his face.

"Then it all makes sense, doesn't it?" he continued, without so much as raising his voice. "Tear out all his hopes and dreams. Leave nothing but an empty shell. Just another _weapon component_." His mouth twisted in disgust. "Like Rei. Your lot have had so much more time to work on her, haven't they? No identity to speak of. No emotions. Just follows orders. The perfect _soldier_ for an eternal war."

He took a single step towards her. It occurred to Misato that her back was pressed against the classroom wall.

"So to answer your question – _that's_ the kind of monster I think you are," he said, his eyes burning with some strange, hideous anger. "And let me make myself clear, _Captain_ – me and monsters? _We don't get along._"

* * *

><p>Shinji heard the door slam shut. He looked up to see Misato doubled-over in pain, hands around her chest, breathing hard. "M-Misato? Are you all right?"<p>

She raised her head, sweat dripping from her brow, and stared at him right in the eye. He flinched, but looked back at her, bewildered. He couldn't quite place her expression. It almost felt like she was studying him, as if she'd never seen him before in her life.

After a second, she straightened up and, without a word, strode down the hallway and into one of the empty classrooms. Shinji watched her go, mouth open.

* * *

><p>He walked into the lab to find the Doctor staring out into space, idly running his fingers through his hair. He didn't <em>look<em> like he'd been shot, at least... "Doctor? Are you all right?"

The Doctor seemed to snap out of it. "Oh! Yeah. Fine." He scratched the back of his head. "It's just – you ever have something that sounded really good in your head, but when you go and say it, it just sounds all... over the top?"

"Sometimes, I guess." Shinji stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. "I usually just get around it by not talking."

"Yeaaaahhhh, bit late for that in my case." The Doctor straightened up and looked around. "Right, then. Back to work... Wait." He paused. "Something's not right. I've missed some..." He looked up at Shinji and suddenly jumped forward, his finger pointed. "Ooh! The mask! Put on the mask!"

"Wha - this?" Shinji pulled the hazmat suit hood out from under his arm. "But – how am I supposed to talk with this thing?"

"Just do it! I'll explain in a second!" The Doctor gestured frantically. Shinji pulled the hood back over his head and started to pull up the zipper. "Besides – didn't you see it was military issue? Has that whole speaker-radio thingy in the – oh, _here_." He pointed the screwdriver at Shinji.

There was a crackle inside of the hood. "Oh. Okay." Shinji could vaguely hear the sound of his own voice being relayed by a speaker somewhere on the outside of the suit. The Doctor let out a deep breath and relaxed. "So... why am I wearing this thing, exactly?"

"Oh, for the smell," the Doctor said. "Well, that is, to help mask your scent. The masked lot outside – they're bloodhounds, remember? If they're related to the thing we saw on the train, stands to reason that they must've tracked one of us back here. That's why I put the sprinklers on when we were downstairs. All that water in the air – washes out the trail, you see?" He turned aside and tapped on a complicated device constructed out of a portable ice chest, PVC piping and a snow globe. "Anyway, I fiddled with the suit's material a bit. Should keep them from getting a lock on you, long as you keep it on."

"Well... okay." Shinji glanced down at the yellow plastic suit. "So why aren't you wearing it, then?"

"Oh. Huh." The Doctor paused midway through pulling out a fire extinguisher from one of the lab sinks. "Eh, probably wouldn't help in my case, anyway. I stand out a bit too much around here, scent-wise."

"Why?"

"Well..." The Doctor started to disassemble the extinguisher's valve. "There's the foreign-brand hair conditioner, for one. But main thing is, I'm not human."

"R-really?" Shinji stared at him. "But... I thought you said you were from... like... some kind of parallel Earth."

"Well, I've spent a fair bit of time there, it's true. But even then, I'm not exactly what you'd call a local."

"... oh."

Something in the back of the room exploded. The Doctor glanced over his shoulder, then went back to what he was doing.

* * *

><p>"Makoto, I've started up one of the classroom computers," Misato said into her cell phone. "Get me remote access to the internal network. Terminal address –" She read off the code printed on the outside of the computer's tower. "– AH2251960."<p>

"Sure thing, Captain," the lieutenant answered.

She hung up. Within a few moments, the familiar NERV login came up on screen, requesting her user name and password. Instead of putting in her own credentials, she entered Ritsuko's – and not the one with the password she'd left out on the post-it note on her desk. The secret account, the one Misato wasn't even supposed to know about.

She went to the pilot medical records. Rei's were still off-limits, as usual, but Shinji's reports were all there - one for each of his weekly exams, plus the observation notes from his post-combat stays in the hospital. She tried a text search for _panic attack_; when that came up with nothing, she tried _panic_, then _fear_.

She finally got a hit on _terror_:

_1:25 am – Nurse reports clear signs of post-traumatic night terrors. Symptoms within expected parameters, no medication administered. As per standing orders, this information has been redacted from the final report._

She stared at the screen for what felt like forever, trying to make sense of it. Trying to make it all add up in her head. Trying to prove the Doctor and his smug, crazy, self-satisfied arrogant tall logic wrong.

It was strange. She'd screwed up a lot of things in her time – Jet Alone, the attack on the school today, Kaji, just to start with – but she'd never really been able to imagine herself failing at something so _completely_.

She ran her hands through her hair. "How did I not see this?"

* * *

><p>Shinji stood back from where the Doctor laid the half-dismantled vacuum cleaner across the floor, a large box in his arms. "So... if you're not from the other Earth, where do you come from?"<p>

"Does it matter?" The Doctor motioned with one hand. Shinji passed him a spork. "S'not like you're going to recognize the name or anything."

Shinji looked down. "Yeah. I - I guess..."

The Doctor looked up at him and sighed. "Oh, fine. Let it never be said I can stand to see a man in a hazmat suit cry. Gallifrey. I was born on a planet called Gallifrey."

"Ga... Garifae?" Well, he was right. Shinji had certainly never heard of a place like that.

The Doctor pressed the screwdriver against the vacuum's motor. "So what about you?"

"Huh?"

"Where were you before all of this?"

"Oh. Umm. I was – I lived with my teacher..." Some time later, it would occur to Shinji that this was the first time anyone had ever directly asked him that question. "– well, I mean, one of my teachers. I - umm... see, when I was six, I was sent to this place. The Shimokita Special Evacuation School. It's this place in the mountains they set up after Second Impact, where people could send their children to learn while they stayed and worked on the flooded parts of the country. So... I stayed there. During the summers and the holidays, I lived with one of the teachers."

"Wait. So you mean you were at boarding school?" The Doctor grimaced. "Changed my mind. I don't think I want to know."

"It wasn't that bad!" Shinji interjected. "Really! I mean, it was peaceful – and the teachers were nice, usually..."

The Doctor gave him an odd, sort of sad look that Shinji couldn't quite read. The motor made a clicking sound. With a sudden roar, the vacuum started up. "And THERE we go! Ba-dah-VROOM-bah!" Grinning like a maniac, he leapt to his feet and stretched the vacuum's hose over to the snow globe thing, where he plugged it into a spare piece of pipe. He tapped one of the glass tubes that ran overhead. "Aww, see, see, now we're cooking. Oh, and with the little bubbles even! Love the little bubbles. Just call me Bubble Man from now on. Well, except don't. Bit rubbish as nicknames go. And besides, pretty sure that's a Nintendo trademark anyway."

Shinji found himself smiling. He couldn't help himself. "You really enjoy this, don't you?"

"Enjoy what?"

"This." Shinji spread out his arms over the vast array of slapdash machinery across the room. "I mean, the whole running and science and saving people... thing."

"Well, yeah, of course. Love it." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "Though, should say, there are parts of it I could do without. Losing people. Seeing people die. Or get hurt. I hate that. Always have, always will. But... every now and again, I get one of those days where I really, actually can pull it all off. Where the plan works out, I mean. And everyone lives." He smiled and stared out into space, like he could just barely see something wonderful in the distance. "Those are the days you aim for, Shinji. That you fight for. 'Cause those are the ones that make it all worth it. Every scrap of trouble..."

Suddenly, the entire building shook. The lights flickered on and off. Shinji looked around the room wildly. For a moment, he thought another one of the Doctor's contraptions had exploded, but he couldn't see any damage or fire or stuff –

The Doctor went pale. "Down the hall."

* * *

><p>They threw open the lab door and dashed outside. The hallway looked exactly the same to Shinji. He could see Mr. Kongo and some of the parents at the barricade at the other end. Kensuke stuck his head out from the door of the third year classroom.<p>

He collided into Misato as she stepped out of the room next to the lab. She saw Shinji and flinched. "Where – what happened –" she started to ask.

There was a loud crack. The door to the empty classroom midway down the hall fell to the ground. A very tall schoolgirl stepped out into the hall. She didn't have the Angel mask – but her skin looked like marble, and she looked far too thin, and her clothes were all dirty and mud-ridden...

The Doctor groaned. "Through the ceiling," he muttered. "Clever girl. Was really, _really_ hoping they weren't going to try that..."

The tall girl lifted up her head and screamed.

And the horde came pouring out from behind her...

* * *

><p><em>Yeah, I know, I know. I'm kind of taking my time with all the character stuff in this episode. I'll try to get back to the action as soon as I can. Besides, what's the point of writing for free if you can't be a little self-indulgent every now and again?<em>

_So, hopefully, the Doctor's rant to Misato in this chapter will be the closest that I get to an Author Tract during this thing. Obviously, a lot of that comes from my own personal reading of Evangelion. As a character, Shinji seems to draw an awful lot of fire online for not spontaneously cowboying up and saving the day, the way that True Heroes are supposed to... in spite of the fact that, as far as I can see, he's been deliberately denied all of the resources, guidance and training he'd need in order to be able to even imagine doing so. Or let me put it this way: the way I see it, ever since he was a child,_ Shinji's entire life has been deliberately designed to be one long, unrelenting Mind Rape. _Given that, are we really all that surprised that - when push comes to shove - he folds?_

_Anyway, speaking of Shinji, I was wondering what people thought of the background story he talks about here. We never really find out much about where Shinji was before Tokyo-3 in the series itself, other than some vague talk of living with a teacher. Research suggests that, given the Japanese's whole focus on the family, they've never really had much truck with boarding schools - but I figure they might reasonably pick up such ideas from the West if absolutely necessary... like, say, half of the country being flooded by a global catastrophe. Anyway, I mostly just thought that this background helped me explain and understand Shinji's specific set of neuroses, and in particular why he seems so well socialized in some ways but not in others (he's polite, he at least understands the concept of friendship, his lack of self-esteem and confidence, etcetera). Who fans, I'll leave it up to you to decide whether the Doctor's thinking of Farringham or the Academy in that conversation._

_Edit 1/1/2013 - adding author's notes._


	24. Deleted Scene: Just Scarecrows To War

Episode 5: Parent-Teacher Conference  
>Deleted Scene: Just Scarecrows To War<p>

"Roger." Officer Kitazume gunned the patrol car's engine and let out a short burst from the siren. Great, he thought. It had to be one of those crazy new religions, then, like they'd been talking about on the news the other night. Just what his day needed.

He pushed the car forward towards the hodgepodge of people making their way up the street. They looked to be kids for the most part, though here and there he could see the odd middle-aged office type and construction worker and elderly pensioner. He pulled up to one of the people towards the front of a crowd – a short schoolgirl wearing a hoodie, a pair of thick-rimmed glasses dangling precariously from the neckline – and lowered his window. "Excuse me, miss, but what the hell do you people think you're doing? You can't just block up the street like this –"

The girl halted. She looked up at him.

He stared at her face – or rather, the bone-colored mask she wore on top of it. "Is – is this some kind of sick joke? You've got some nerve, wearing something like that in this city –"


	25. Episode 5 Part VII

Episode 5: Parent-Teacher Conference  
>Part VII: Is my child organized?<p>

**Third Floor Hallway**

A lot of things happened at once. Misato tackled Shinji to the ground, shouting something. A desk came hurdling over his head, scattering the first of the horde like ninepins. He heard the crack of Mr. Kongo's shotgun going off – he could see the... the not-zombies charging towards him –

"STAY BACK!" the Doctor shouted. "Everyone, just STAY BACK!" He rushed past Shinji, dragging the fire extinguisher behind him with both hands. He spun around and tossed it into the middle of the crowd. It bounced off the ceiling and disappeared into the mob...

There was a hissing sound. A blast of dark smoke flooded the hallway. Through the haze, Shinji could see the shadows of figures twisting and milling about in confusion.

He felt Misato pull herself off on him and stand up. The smoke started to clear. The horde lay in a twitching pile on the floor, a handful still meekly attempting to crawl down the hall. Beyond them, he could see Kensuke, eyes practically bulging out through his glasses, attempting to push a masked high schooler twice his size off of him, while Hikari looked on nervously from the classroom door. Behind him, further back by the bend in the hall, Rei paused, a desk suspended over her head with one hand.

The Doctor stepped past Shinji and went to the side of the closest not-zombie. He felt his wrist for a pulse, then stood back, satisfied. "Well," he said. "Think we can call that a successful field test, can't we?"

* * *

><p><strong>Classroom 3B<strong>

Shinji carefully dragged the tall girl – her broken arm set with a yardstick and Scotch tape – back into the room the horde had emerged from. Rubble lay strewn everywhere, including a massive chunk of concrete embedded into the floor. Just above it was a large gap in the ceiling at least a meter in diameter.

He stepped over the unconscious not-zombies and made his way back to the newly-completed barricade by the classroom door, where the others were waiting. "That's the last one, right?"

"Yep. Good work." The Doctor turned to Misato. "I've got a few more extinguishers filling up down the hall. I can't tap the vents for the entire building from here, so we'll need to get them to the roof somehow."

"How many do we have?"

"Five total. Figure we should leave at least one here in case there's any more trouble."

"Fine," Misato said. "Mr. Kongo, I want you to stay here and watch the students. You, too, Rei." Rei nodded. "Continue to maintain contact with Command at all times. The Doctor and I will go out and attempt to flush out the building through the air conditioning system."

Mr. Kongo shouldered his rifle. "Sounds easy enough when you put it that way."

She looked at the Doctor. "Any objections?"

"Nope. Question, though." The Doctor pointed to the knife on Misato's belt. "Meant to ask - what's that thing, anyway? You never said."

"This?" Misato unclipped the boxcutter-like item and extended the blade. It seemed to glow slightly – or maybe that was just a trick of the light. "NERV prototype. It's a personal-sized version of the progressive knife we use on the Evas. We've been evaluating it for mass production."

Shinji nodded to himself. That's why the knife looked familiar, then. The Doctor eyed the blade thoughtfully. "Huh. Monofilament carbon-nanotube wire accelerated around a superconductive magnetic core, using sonic vibrations to shape the cutting surface. Nasty. Should beat out my Ginsu kit something fierce, though. I'll give it that."

Misato retracted the blade. "How soon will the chemical be ready to move?"

"Shouldn't be too long now. Though –" The Doctor snapped his fingers. "Ooh. Almost forgot. One last thing to take care of."

* * *

><p><strong>Classroom 3A<strong>

Shinji unsealed the empty jar – or, at least, it looked empty to him – and held it under Tomoe's nose. Behind him, the Doctor handed another glass container to Hikari. "Pure oxygen," he said. "Keep it away from any sparks or flames. Might help clear out her airways a bit."

Hikari gave him a slight bow. "Thank you."

"No trouble. Though – one second –" The Doctor glanced around. Now that Shinji thought of it, it seemed like everyone was grouped towards the back of the classroom. Even the third years. "– why are you all up here? After they came through the ceiling like that, wouldn't it be safer to stay towards the..."

Shinji glanced towards the door. The only person there was Rei. She stood against the wall, arms crossed.

The Doctor groaned. "Oh, _tell me_ that you're joking."

"She opened a steel door _with her bare hands_!" Hikari whispered furiously. Toji nodded in agreement. "And those desks weigh, like, sixty pounds!"

"What is she, anyway?" Kensuke asked. "Some kind of advanced battle android?"

Shinji looked at Rei again. Who was, in fact, shorter than him... And who didn't _look_ particularly strong or well-built... Actually, he had to admit, that was kind of freaky...

The Doctor sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Urrrlllch. Humans. Of course." He turned to the other students. "Right, you lot. Listen up, because I'm only saying this the once. You've got two options – one, you can spend all your energy fearing and shunning her because she's different. Or two, you can wake up and realize that she's been actively risking her life to save yours this entire time. My advice to you is –" He leaned in. "– _I'd pick the one that keeps you on her good side._"

The class stared at him in silence.

The Doctor straightened up and adjusted his tie. "Right. Think on it, will you? Might be a quiz later." He stalked out of the room. Shinji glanced at Rei again, then hurried to follow.

* * *

><p><strong>Third Floor Girls' Bathroom<strong>

Misato stared at herself in the reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Don't think, she thought. Don't think about all this crap right now. Don't think about Shinji. Don't think about what I've - what we've been putting him through this whole time. Don't think about Rei, or what might have made her the way she is. Don't think about Antarctica. Don't think about Dad. Don't think about the scars or the blood or the feeling of the metal moving around inside your flesh. Don't think about the hospital. Don't think about your room, or the eyes on the other side of the glass window, always there, always watching you...

Don't think. Act. Get him out of this. At least get that right.

"So what's first?" she asked the mirror. She reached for her cell phone.

* * *

><p><strong>Third Floor Hallway<strong>

They wound up waiting for Misato in the hallway outside of the bathroom. "So... should we knock or something?" Shinji asked.

"Nah. Bad idea, trust me. 'specially when they're armed." The Doctor grunted as he pulled on the backpack they'd stuffed two of the fire extinguishers into. They were obviously fairly heavy. Shinji had only just been able to carry just one of the canisters by himself. Another pack containing the other two extinguishers sat nearby on the floor.

Shinji glanced around the hallway. He lowered his voice and held out the little leather wallet the Doctor had shown Misato. "You left this in the lab."

The Doctor snatched it. "Ooh, that's right. Cheers."

"What is that, anyway?"

"I didn't say?" The Doctor pocketed the wallet. "Psychic paper. Shows people what you want them to see."

"So... Misato and the others... they can actually see something on the card?" Shinji wrinkled his brow. "So why can't I see any–"

Rei coughed. Shinji shut his mouth and turned around. It was odd, actually, he thought, just how quickly he was getting used to her sneaking up on him.

The Doctor looked up. "Ms. Ayanami. What's the word?"

"Barricades remain stable," she said. "No sign of enemy activity."

"Sort of guessed from the lack of screaming, yeah."

She didn't say anything.

"... is that all, then?" The Doctor shot Shinji a confused glance. He could only shrug in response.

Rei let out a sigh.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

"The First Law of Robotics," Rei said quietly – in perfect English, "is that a robot cannot harm a human, or, by inaction, allow a human to come to harm."

Shinji's jaw dropped. The Doctor grinned. "Good ol' Isaac," he said. "But you're so much more than a robot, aren't you?"

She looked away. "I always preferred his nonfiction, to be honest."

Shinji looked back and forth between the two of them, his mouth open.

Misato strode out of the bathroom. "Everything ready?"

"Yes, marm." The Doctor pointed to the backpack on the floor. Misato hefted it onto her back and, without another word, marched away down the hall.

The Doctor glanced back at Shinji and Rei. "That's my cue, then. Stay safe. And whatever you do – make sure you keep that suit on and sealed. Got it?"

Shinji nodded.

"Right." The Doctor cracked his neck and shot them a weary grin. "Once more into the breach, then, eh? That's Shakespeare, by the way. _Henry V_. Brilliant speech. Really should cover it in class at some point... I'll have to remember that..." He followed Misato down the hall.

* * *

><p><strong>Classroom 3B<strong>

Kongo passed Misato a wooden stepladder. "Good hunting, Captain Katsuragi."

"To you as well."

Kongo nodded and stepped back. Two third-year boys pushed the barricade back into position.

They stood alone in the ruined classroom. Misato extended the ladder and propped it next to the hole in the ceiling.

"So..." the Doctor said. Misato looked at him, her eyes darting nervously. "... _the Little Mermaid_? Really?"

Misato sighed. "Can we just get this over with?"

"Just saying – 'snot bad. But it's no _Beauty and the Beast_."

Misato shook her head and started to climb up to the next floor. The Doctor scratched the back of his neck and followed.

* * *

><p><strong>Third Floor Hallway. Outside of the Girls' Bathroom.<strong>

Shinji sat on the hallway floor. Rei stood on the other side of the hall, her arms folded.

Kensuke came around the bend in the hall. "Hey, Shinji, I –" He saw Rei and stopped in his tracks.

Shinji felt like he needed to say something. "Kensuke – it's okay. Really."

"So... umm..." Kensuke looked at Rei. "... you... you're not going to pull off my limbs or something, right?"

Rei regarded him cooly. "Only if I'm ordered to."

"Oh." Kensuke swallowed. "Um. Okay. And are the chances of that _high_, or...?"

Rei shrugged.

"Umm... so, yeah." Kensuke looked away. He sat down on the floor next to Shinji.

"She's really not like that, you know?" Shinji said. "I think - I think it's just been a rough day."

"Heh. Yeah." Kensuke smiled and stared up at the ceiling. His smile faded. "So... this is it, yeah? This is what war is like."

"I guess."

"I thought I'd really be better at this, you know?" Kensuke said. "You know, 'cause I've read all the books and everything. I thought I'd be prepared, or something. But this... you know, actually being here?... I just don't know how you do it, man."

Shinji shrugged his shoulders. "Me, too."

"Yeah..."

They stared up at the ceiling for a moment.

"So... umm..." Shinji swallowed. "About that whole me-smiling thing..."

"Oh, yeah. Forget about it, man. It's really not a big deal."

"Well, yeah - but - I just wanted to explain..." Shinji wasn't quite sure where all these words were coming from. But he kept talking anyway. "I'm sorry if I freaked everyone out and all... I guess it's just that – it's not like I'm enjoying this, or like I wanted this to happen at all, you know? Because I don't. I mean, I really, really didn't. But usually, when I'm this scared, it's just me in the Eva, you know? I mean, I can hear Misato and Rei and everything over the radio, but still..." He shook his head. "I dunno... I guess that it's just kind of nice to not be alone when I'm this scared, for once. Does that make any sense?"

Except that wasn't quite true, he thought. I didn't feel alone at Uenohara. I wasn't alone on the train. In fact... in the back of his mind, he heard the Doctor say, _or you can wake up and realize that he's been actively risking his life to save yours this entire time..._

He banged the back of his head against the wall. "I'm such an idiot."

"What?" Kensuke looked at him.

"Nothing. Forget about it."

Toji ran full-speed around the hallway corner and skidded to a halt. "Oh, god! There you are!" He turned wildly between Rei and Shinji. He looked like he was angry, or about to cry, or maybe both.

Shinji sat up. "What's wrong?"

"It's Hikari," Toji said. "She's gone."

* * *

><p><strong>Outside Classroom 2A<strong>

They stood around the first barricade they'd put up on this floor. Behind the pile of desks, someone had pulled back one of the fire doors just enough for someone about Shinji's size to crawl through. "We saw her just as she left." Mr. Kongo looked, if anything, a little embarrassed. "She had that fire extinguisher Smith left behind with her. Must've grabbed it at some point when we were reinforcing the other room."

"Why the hell would she do something like that?!" Toji snapped. He started to pull down desks from the barricade. "Come on! We have to go after her!"

Kongo shook his head. "Don't be a fool, son. There's nothing we can do for her right now."

"I'm kind of amazed she stayed this long." Shinji looked up. Tomoe stood weakly by the door to the third-year classroom, a blanket wrapped around her, leaning on Kobayashi for support. "She was sitting with me when she got a text. Took one look at it and ran out of the room. It must've been from Nozomi."

"Who?" Shinji asked.

"Her little sister." Tomoe coughed into her hand. "Didn't you know? She's in 1A."

"Oh, man." Kensuke stepped back, wide-eyed.

"What the hell does that mean?!" Toji asked.

"Her little sister was on the ground floor when this whole thing started." Kensuke rubbed his face with his hands. "She must've been out there this whole time..."

Shinji looked up at Rei. "Wha - what should we do?"

Rei let out a deep sigh.

"What?"

She looked at Shinji. Though she wore the same expression as always, he couldn't help but think she looked... sort of _annoyed_, actually. "First Law," she grumbled.

And then Rei was in motion. She dove past Toji, underneath the desks in the barricade, and squeezed through the fire doors. In a blink of an eye, she was gone.

They all stared at each other for a moment. "Okay... girls –" Toji said. "Girls should _not_ be allowed to be that awesome." He made to try and crawl after her, but he couldn't quite fit under the desks. Kensuke and Mr. Kongo grabbed him and pulled him back.

Shinji stepped back. His head felt like it was spinning – he tried to think – what the hell were they supposed to do? What the hell was _he_ supposed to do? Rei was strong and all - but what if...? And then there was Hikari and her sister... he couldn't –

And suddenly, just like that, he knew what he had to do. It was kind of obvious, really.

He reached out and grabbed Toji's shoulder. "Toji! Listen to me!" Toji and Kensuke turned to look at him, surprised. "I need you guys to go and find the Doctor and Misato. Tell them what happened. They'll know what to do, okay?"

"Wha - what are you going to do?" Kensuke asked.

Shinji took in a deep breath. "I think – something really, _really_ stupid."

Before Kongo could stop him, he crawled underneath the desks and through the space in the fire doors, the hazmat suit squeaking around him.

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_For those who don't know, the "Isaac" the Doctor mentions here is Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), prolific author of science fiction, fantasy and nonfiction, as well as the inventor of the Three Laws of Robotics. For those who do, there has to be some kind of story or another in the Doctor crashing a meeting of the Futurians or something..._

_Anyway, big finish at last next time. Promise._


	26. Bonus Material: Text Message Log

Episode 5: Parent-Teacher Conference  
>Bonus Material: Text message log from phone of H. Horaki, September 2015<p>

_Note: this text has been edited for punctuation and clarity._

**To: Nozomi**  
>RUN NOW JUST RUN<p>

* * *

><p><strong>From: Nozomi<strong>  
>what?<p>

* * *

><p><strong>To: Nozomi<strong>  
>SCHOOL UNDER ATTACK. I'm in 2a. Get up here as soon as you can.<p>

If you can't, find somewhere to hide.

WHERE ARE YOU?!

Oh god they're outside the room. Don't come up here. I think they're after the pilots.

Tell dad and big sis I love them. Love you.

I'm okay. We're all okay.

We're on the third floor. Come up to us if you can.

The third years are here too. And Mr. Kongo has a gun for some reason. Where are you?

Where are you?

Where are you?

Where are you?

* * *

><p><strong>From: Nozomi<strong>  
>basement<p>

* * *

><p><strong>To: Nozomi<strong>  
>WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?!<p>

* * *

><p><strong>From: Nozomi<strong>  
>no. sorry<p>

they got me and a bunch of the others. dragged us down here. couldn't move til now

* * *

><p><strong>To: Nozomi<strong>  
>Can you get out? Can you run?<p>

The army's outside. Just hold on. Help's on the way.

Also, there's this weird teacher and this woman from NERV up here. I think they're doing something too.

* * *

><p><strong>From: Nozomi<strong>  
>can't stand. they breathe out some kind of gas. makes you stop moving. pass out and stuff<p>

but listen

there's something down here

* * *

><p><strong>To: Nozomi<strong>  
>What do you mean?<p>

* * *

><p><strong>From: Nozomi<strong>  
>can't really see it. too dark<p>

they keep dragging people off that way

i think they're feeding us to it

* * *

><p><strong>To: Nozomi<strong>  
>If that's supposed to be a joke, it's really really not funny.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>From: Nozomi<strong>  
>not a joke<p>

love you, okay? love dad and kodama too

don't know how much longer until its my turn

i'm scared

* * *

><p><strong>To: Nozomi<strong>  
>Hold on, okay? Just hold on. I'm on my way down right now.<p>

Be there soon. I promise.


	27. Episode 5 Part VIII

Episode 5: Parent-Teacher Conference  
>Part VIII: What can I do to help my child?<p>

**The roof**

The Doctor burst through the door into the open air. He scanned the rooftop. A few sheets fluttered on a clothesline, but no other movement. "Come on, then!"

Misato charged up the last of the stairs, knife in hand. She'd lost her jacket at some point, and picked up a nasty-looking gash on her shoulder.

And, naturally, there were at least twenty of _that lot_ right on her heels. The Doctor slammed the door shut behind her and jammed the lock.

They paused to catch their breath. "Well," the Doctor said in between gasps. "That was fun, at least, wasn't it?" He saw the corners of her mouth start to curl before she caught herself.

The other lot started pounding on the door. It wouldn't hold for long. "Where's the cooling tower?" he asked.

"Up there." Misato flicked her chin at a large silver box on the roof of the hut over the stairwell exit. She pulled off her backpack and changed up her grip on the knife. "Get to work. I'll hold them off." The Doctor gave her a nod and ran around the other side of the landing, dragging her bag behind him.

* * *

><p><strong>The basement<strong>

Hikari faded back into consciousness with the vague sense that she'd done something really, really dumb. God, her head hurt. Her sisters hadn't tried to get her drunk or something, had they? That would be just like them. She kept telling Kodama that she needed to be a better role model... but no, she sometimes just had to be as much as a brat as...

Nozomi. Oh. Oh, shit.

She opened her eyes. Everything seemed dark and blurry. She was being moved – dragged by the leg over what felt like a concrete floor. She weakly tried to pull herself loose, but her body didn't seem interested in listening to her at the moment...

Where was the thing? She'd had this – this metal can thing in her hands. Whathisname – the insane foreign hottie – had made it. The _fire extinguisher_. Where'd it gone? She could remember spraying it at those masked people-things. It'd been working – made them fall down – then she'd heard something behind her and she turned and then everything had cut out...

... she was in trouble here, wasn't she.

She felt whatever was dragging her drop her leg. Hikari forced her eyes to focus. She was lying on the floor in the school's boiler room. Above her, in the dim glow shed by the emergency lights, she could see a thick fog of yellow gas hanging in the air. (Oh, God. Her breath mask. She couldn't feel it on her face. No wonder she could barely move. There was nothing between her and the poison.) Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the masked things – a burly construction worker – shuffle around her and rejoin the horde at the center of the room.

A familiar voice whispered, "Hikari..."

She raised her head. Next to her – in the corner of the room, piled between the concrete wall and a massive pump – a handful of first-years lay prone on the floor. Nozomi was on the outskirts of the group, her cell phone clutched in her hand. She met Hikari's eyes, tears running down her face.

It hit Hikari all at once - the fear, the panic, the ringing in her ears, the way her head felt like it'd been stuffed with broken glass. A wave of nausea sprang outward from her stomach. She forced it back down. Not going to throw up, she thought. Not going to scream. Not going to cry. Going to be strong for my sister. Just like Mom would've wanted.

She reached out and took Nozomi's hand. She could do that much, at least.

* * *

><p><strong>The roof<strong>

The stairwell door exploded open. Metal fragments scattered across the rooftop. The other lot came streaming out.

The Doctor steadied his grip on the cooling tower as the hut shook from the impact. "Here they come," Misato said. She crouched down next to him, facing outwards.

"Yeah, I noticed!" he snapped. (_Another human bomb_, the Fifth whispered mournfully in the back of his mind. _Another senseless waste of life._)

"No, no." Misato turned back to him, a wolflike smile on her face. "I mean, here _they_ come."

A black helicopter roared up and over the edge of the roof. It passed directly over the horde, the rotor wash knocking the masked figures to the ground like a hurricane wind. In its wake, a duffel bag hurtled end over end through the air. Misato leapt up and caught it.

She unzipped the bag and threw a gas mask at the Doctor. "Put this on. They'll be putting down tear gas on the second pass." She pulled out a fairly large submachine gun and extended the stock.

It occurred to the Doctor that he was staring at her, his eyes wide, which really wasn't like him at all and that he should really try and say something clever. "Buh." He swallowed. "Um. Gun? _What?_"

"Don't worry." Misato pulled back the rifle's bolt and unlocked the safety. "Rubber bullets. I promise."

She stepped to the hut's edge and opened fire into the mob below.

* * *

><p><strong>The basement<strong>

Hikari heard movement elsewhere in the room. The sound of feet shuffling in the dark. Something cracked. A masked high school student flew over the mass of figures standing over her and into the wall. He bounced off and fell to the ground, knocking down two or three others beneath him.

Then Rei leapt over the pump and landed in front of Hikari.

"R-Rei?" Hikari flipped herself over onto her stomach.

"Class Representative Horaki," Rei said, her voice muffled by her surgical mask. The construction worker reached for her. Rei grabbed his wrist and tossed him back into the crowd. "Can you move?"

"I - I think I could crawl." Hikari's vision started to blur again. She blinked her eyes rapidly. "But – the others – I don't –"

"Understood." Rei turned to the crowd. "I'll clear the room."

She launched herself into the press, her hands and feet a blur amid the yellow smog.

* * *

><p><strong>The roof<strong>

The Doctor slotted the second extinguisher into the cooling tower and reached for the next. The gas mask pressed like a vise against his ears, but wasn't doing much to block out the cacophany around him. The helicopter hovered overhead, raining down tear gas and sponge grenades onto the assembled horde. Misato kicked a masked pensioner off the edge of the hut and fired off another burst from the submachine gun.

Then there was all the noise _inside_ his head.

_Don't bypass the heat pump, you simpering fool!_ the Sixth yelled in his ear. _You'll blow the entire subsystem!_

_Y'know, sometimes I think I shoulda just let Jamie catch me._ The Ninth considered the gas mask thoughtfully. _Could've had one of these for free._

Then there was the Seventh, who just kept chanting over and over again: _hate guns hate guns hate guns hate guns..._

_Bollocks_, the Eighth murmured.

"Eh?" The Doctor looked up. Odd. The Eighth barely spoke at all these days. Why would he –

There was the sound of a large explosion at the other end of the roof. Two small figures in school uniforms flew up out of a cloud of tear gas and latched onto the side of the helicopter.

The Doctor stared in horror. "Oh no no no," he begged. "Oh, don't – please don't –"

They detonated. The helicopter shuddered and wheeled away from the building, smoke pouring from its side. Misato shouted a curse. The Doctor could only grit his teeth and turn back to the cooling tower as, all around him, the mob began to climb up onto the hut...

* * *

><p><strong>The basement<strong>

It was like a scene from a movie. That was all Hikari could think as she watched dozens of masked figures of all shapes and sizes being tossed about as if in a whirlwind.

And at the center of the storm was Rei. She moved so fast that Hikari's eyes could barely keep track of her. One moment, she pushed away the chin of a boy in a tennis uniform, sending him spinning away; the next, a quarter of the way across the room, she kicked the legs out from underneath a long-haired college student. The construction worker seized her upper arm from behind. Rei backhanded him in the face. He fell to the ground. As she pulled herself free, a potbellied bearded man in a long white robe struck her across the face. Rei barely seemed to notice. She took her attacker's outstretched arm, twisted around, and in a single motion flipped him over her shoulder onto the floor.

As she stepped back, Hikari caught a glimpse of her face. Rei looked as calm as ever... but her surgical mask was gone.

She seemed to notice at about the same time. She covered her mouth and started to cough. Oh, God. Hikari felt her heart sink into her stomach. Whatever Rei was, whatever she might be – _the toxin worked on her, too_.

Rei edged back into a fighting stance, her hands held out in front of her - but already, Hikari could tell that she seemed to be moving more slowly. In front of them, another row of attackers marched out of the fog...

* * *

><p><strong>Classroom 2E. Second Floor.<strong>

Rei was in trouble. Shinji didn't know _how_ he knew it, or why he suddenly felt utterly certain of the fact. He just... _knew_, somehow.

This was going to have to be it, then. He glanced around the empty classroom. He'd been hoping to get to the ground floor, maybe even outside. But he'd just barely dodged a big group heading up the stairs on the second floor landing. He could still hear them moving around outside in the hallway.

Well... this was it, then. It would probably help if he tried not to think about it too much.

He sighed. Hands trembling, he unzipped the hood from the hazmat suit and pulled it off his head.

* * *

><p><strong>The roof<strong>

The Doctor considered himself fairly good at multitasking. He had to admit, though, trying to remotely program a Japanese air conditioning system with one hand while fending off a hipster-looking young woman on the other – who seemed intent on gnawing on the sleeve of his suit jacket, no less – was pushing things a bit.

Then an unearthly scream - loud enough to be heard over the thrumming of the helicopter blades - resonated out from the bowels of the school. Hipster Girl abruptly jerked back and turned away. Glancing behind him, the Doctor saw the three masked fellows Misato had been fending off with the butt of her rifle climb down off the landing.

The Doctor stared in surprise as what remained of the mob below began to stumble their way back into the building. "Where the hell are they going?"

Misato swatted him on the back of the head. "Finish the job!" she shouted through her own gas mask.

"All right, all right!" He turned back to the machinery.

* * *

><p><strong>The basement<strong>

The swarm of figures around Rei suddenly broke apart and turned away. They started to shuffle their way up the stairs and out of the room.

Rei stood up straight and blinked. Behind her, Hikari released her ears and stared. Why were they – where had that hideous screeching come from, anyway? It sounded like it'd been from above her somewhere...

Then, through the multitude of moving legs, she caught a glimpse of a metallic gleam on the floor on the opposite side of the room. "Rei!" Hikari croaked. "Over there – the extinguisher –"

Rei nodded. She dashed off through the crowd, dodging and weaving her way through the mass of figures. Lifting the canister in both hands above her head, she smashed it against the wall.

The valve broke off and flew into the air. The room filled with black smoke.

* * *

><p><strong>Classroom 2E<strong>

The door slid open. The not-zombie – an almost comically scrawny boy who reminded Shinji a little of Kensuke – stood in the entryway.

"So you've been after me this whole time. Again." Shinji looked up from his seat at a desk towards the back of the room. "Wow. What a twist."

"Hurt." The not-zombie stepped into the room.

"Y-you don't say." Shinji tried to keep his voice calm. His knees started to shake.

"_Hurt_." The not-zombie took another step into the room.

Then he shifted to the side and stopped in his tracks. Shinji stared at him. The not-zombie stared back.

"Hurt." Another figure - a middle-aged office lady - stumbled in through the door. She stepped behind the first-year and came to a halt.

There was another behind her. And another behind him. And another...

* * *

><p><strong>The basement<strong>

Somewhere in the boiler room, a ventilation fan started up. The miasma above Hikari's head began to clear.

Rei walked out of the fog, her left leg scuffling over the floor. She fell to her hands and knees, hacking and coughing. Her face and arms bore a number of nasty-looking bruises, and her uniform was torn and disheveled.

She looked up at Hikari as the fit ceased. "Status?" she asked in a near-whisper.

Hikari glanced over at her sister and the other first-years. They seemed to have passed out at some point, but she could see them breathing. "I'm okay. We're all okay. I think." She hesitated. "Th - thank you."

Rei gave her a small nod, then lowered her head and started to cough again.

As some of the smoke dissipated, Hikari could see dozens of unconscious bodies lying scattered across the boiler room. The only sounds she could hear, other than Rei and the hum of the fans...

... was something on the far side of the room moving. Coming closer.

* * *

><p><strong>The roof<strong>

"There! It's done!" The Doctor pulled off his gas mask and leapt down from the cooling tower as the machinery started up. He prowled the rooftop. The helicopter circled around the building at a safe distance, smoke still belching from its side. The mob had cleared out completely, leaving behind a score-and-a-half of unconscious figures and a few scorch marks here and there. "But why would they leave? They just about had us, so why would they –"

He slapped his head. "OH OF COURSE."

Misato yanked her own gas mask to the side. "What?"

"Ohhh, it's Shinji again!" The Doctor dashed for the door - aargh, no, wait, that was no good, the boy could be anywhere in the building. He pulled out the screwdriver and waved it around. "He's trying for a sacrifice play, just like the train!"

"He's trying a WHAT?!"

"Y'see what I meant about medication?!" The Doctor scrambled back and forth across the roof, hopping and vaulting his way over the scattered bodies in his path. "Hold on, hold on. There's a transceiver in the hazmat suit. If I can just get the signal back, I can triangulate his location –"

* * *

><p><strong>Classroom 2E<strong>

The air conditioner sputtered to life. Oh, thank God. Shinji looked up to see the vents start to spit out black smoke. It seemed a little thin, though, compared to when the Doctor had thrown the extinguisher upstairs... and the not-zombies didn't seem to be affected by it, at least not yet...

Shinji rose from his seat and shrank back from the approaching crowd. The room was now half-full, and they were still filing in, one by one. Not doing anything, not so much as raising a hand in his direction. They just stood there once they arrived. Watching him.

Shinji could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He anxiously clutched the hood in his hands. Maybe – maybe this was enough. Maybe, if he just put the hood back on and resealed the suit, they'd just ignore him...

He slowly raised the hood towards his face. Immediately, a high schooler leapt out of the mob and snatched it out of his hands. "Hey! Give that – give it back –" He weakly made a grab for the object. The high schooler retreated and vanished into the crowd.

Shinji stared at his empty hands. Now what was he supposed to do?

* * *

><p><strong>The basement<strong>

Hikari could only watch, tears leaking down her face, as a massive form appeared from out of the smoke. Rei turned and – with a concerning amount of effort – rose into a crouch.

The creature plodded into view. It – and Hikari didn't care what the Doctor said, this was an _it_, this was a _thing_, she just couldn't think of it any other way – on first glance appeared to be a immensely obese man, at least six-and-a-half feet tall, wearing the tattered remnants of a subway worker's hooded jacket. Yet its head bore three different faces, with two placed over where its ears should have been. Its body was strange and misshapen, and its flesh was a patchwork of different shades and colors – here smooth and pale, there wrinkled and tanned – as if someone had grafted together chunks from different people into a demented quilt.

It stopped about three meters away from them. Five eyes looked down and blinked. Then its entire torso _opened_, from top to bottom, like a single terrible mouth. Muscles relaxed; organs and arteries pulled back; needle-like teeth retracted out of the way. A small figure - a first-year boy Hikari recognized from her sister's class - spilled out of its jaws and onto the floor, unconscious, a bone mask grafted to his face.

The rightmost face let out a dull grunt. The thing stepped towards them.

* * *

><p><strong>Classroom 2E<strong>

"_Hurt. Hurt. Hurt._"

Shinji huddled in the corner of the room, his back pressed against the wall. They were all around him now, packed inside of the room. All of them softly chanting that same damn word over and over.

His head felt as light as a feather. He could feel his entire body shake and twitch, the sweat pouring from his skin. This was it, wasn't it. He was really going to die. He'd thought that he was prepared – that he wanted this. But this – he hadn't been ready for this... He wasn't ready...

He guessed - underneath it all - he'd just really wanted to believe in the Doctor, hadn't he. That he'd win in the end, and everyone could just go home...

The mob went silent. He could hear something moving through the room towards him. He tried to squeeze his eyes shut, but they wouldn't move. He couldn't look away...

A high-school girl appeared out of the crowd in front of them. No mask. Albino. She was really pretty, actually. She looked at Shinji. "Hurt," she said.

She bent down and put her arms around him. "Hurt," she whispered in his ear.

Shinji stood frozen on the spot. "_What_," he squeaked.

All around him, the not-zombies raised their heads and exhaled. The room filled with poison...

* * *

><p><strong>The roof<strong>

"There!" The Doctor pointed the screwdriver down at the rooftop. "He's right below us! First –" He finished the calculations in his head. "No, wait. Second floor!"

"Got it." Misato pulled the sling of the submachine gun over her shoulder. She took the knife off her belt.

"What are you waiting for?!" The Doctor gestured furiously at the circling helicopter. "Call in dah choppah! It's his only chance!"

"Sorry. No time." Misato cut the clothesline free from its moorings and tossed the knife to the side. She reached down and picked up the neat coil of rope.

It suddenly hit the Doctor what she was thinking. "Oh, no," he said. "No, no, don't you _dare_. Don't you even –"

Misato ran full-speed towards the edge of the roof. She leapt over the railing and disappeared. The Doctor dashed to the railing and peered over in time to see her rappel down the side of the building, much faster than should have been possible or safe without gloves. (_And in heels, too_, the Fourth mused inside his head, his tone ever-so-slightly impressed.)

* * *

><p><strong>Classroom 2E<strong>

There was a loud thump from one of the windows. Shinji looked up. The mob lowered their heads and turned.

Outside, Misato hung from a rope by one hand, a gas mask on her head, her feet planted against the glass. She raised the rifle underneath her arm and fired.

The window shattered inwards. Misato swung into the room and jumped into the mob, the rifle blazing.

* * *

><p><strong>The roof<strong>

The Doctor backed away from the edge, his hands running furiously through his hair. "C'mon, think! Think!" No time to wave down the chopper – options, he needed options –

He looked down and saw the progressive knife lying on the rooftop where the captain had dropped it. He swept it up and ran for the stairwell as fast as he could. He'd have to be quick. Only had a few minutes at most –

He turned down the stairs and immediately ran straight into Hipster Girl. Who took the opportunity to blow a rather large cloud of toxin directly into his face.

* * *

><p><strong>The basement<strong>

Hikari desperately tried to get up off the floor. No good – she still couldn't move her legs. She couldn't run, couldn't even scream –

"Horaki." Rei slowly stood up. "Close your eyes."

"Wh-what?"

"I need you to close your eyes. Now." The thing was right in front of Rei, just another step or two away. "Please."

Hikari took in a deep breath and shut her eyes. The last thing she saw was Rei stretching out her hands towards the monster, almost as if to embrace it...

* * *

><p><strong>Classroom 2E<strong>

The room around Shinji was a blur of loud noises and violence. He tried to pull away from the albino girl. She latched onto him, her body pressed against his, almost in a death grip... which was actually kind of nice, he had to admit, but still –

Misato jumped out of the crowd and landed on top of a nearby desk, small, vicious cuts all over her face and her arms. The albino girl looked up and hissed. Misato hit her in the face with the butt of her rifle. She fell back.

Misato held out her hand to him. "C'mon!"

Shinji took it. She pulled him onto the desk next to her, then turned and fired the rifle into the mob surrounding them on all sides. "Pocket of my dress – cell phone –" she said in between bursts. "Get it out – call command – helicopter outside –"

Shinji did as she said. "Um – Misato?" He held up her cell phone and showed her the large fragment of glass embedded in the battery. "It's not starting."

"Oh, for God's sake! This is why _I hate improvising_!" She flipped a switch on the rifle and sprayed the room on full-auto.

* * *

><p><strong>Fourth Floor Hallway<strong>

The Doctor blinked and pulled his finger out of the electric socket. He looked up and saw Toji and Kensuke staring at him, their mouths open. "Right. Short-term memory loss, sorry. What just happened?"

"I – I don't –" Kensuke stammered.

"You just ran in and – and scarfed down this sandwich you had. And then you –" Toji gestured to the socket.

"Ohhhh." The Doctor snapped his fingers knowingly - which hurt quite a bit, actually - and leapt to his feet. "Enzyme cleansing. Needed the shock, didn't have Donna around this time. Don't try it at home, by the way, trained professionals only. Anyway – there was something else. Something impor..."

He looked down and saw the knife in his other hand.

"Oh. OH!" His eyes went wide. "Not good! Double-plus _extra_ not good!"

He took off running down the hallway. The boys followed after him. "Wait – Doctor –" Kensuke gasped out. "Hikari and Rei – they're –"

"One thing at a time!" the Doctor shouted. "COME ON!"

* * *

><p><strong>Classroom 2E<strong>

The rifle's clip ran out. Misato growled.

The not-zombies didn't seem happy either. They screamed and ranted wordlessly, rushing in from all sides, held back only by the piles of unconscious and broken bodies around the desk. They weren't exploding, at least – the Doctor's smoke seemed to be doing that much –

"Here." Misato pulled the gas mask off of her head and shoved it into Shinji's arms. "Put this on."

"M-Misato," he said through chattering teeth. "You've – you've got to get out of here. They want me. I'm the one they're after –"

Misato looked at him in the eye and snarled: "I'm. Not. Leaving. You. _ALONE_."

Shinji stared at her. He tried to say something, but all he could seem to do was move his jaw up and down.

With a final shriek, the horde charged them, hands outstretched. Misato pushed Shinji behind her and swung the rifle like a club. Above all the tumult, he could still hear her ranting: "You _deserve_ better than this – you're gonna live through this – you're gonna find _some way_ to be happy – Even if I have to beat down every single _stupid_ maskface with my _bare goddamn hands_ –"

There was a hideous grinding sound above them. Part of the ceiling fell down onto a handful of not-zombies.

Shinji looked up. The Doctor stood on the floor above them. In one hand, he held the screwdriver. In the other, he held the progressive knife, a length of extension cord wired into its hilt. He tossed the knife aside and reached down towards them. "COME ON, THEN!"

Misato grabbed Shinji by the scruff of his neck and pushed him towards the Doctor's waiting hand. He took it, and the Doctor pulled him up. For a second, he could feel the mob's hands grabbing and clutching at his feet – then the Doctor, Kensuke and Toji hauled him up onto the floor. He collapsed, gasping, onto the linoleum.

He turned around. The mob was all over Misato now, a dozen hands pulling her down off the desk. She'd lost her grip on the rifle. In the meantime, another part of the horde was climbing, scrambling up one on top of another, reaching out for the edge of the hole...

"CLEAR THE ROOM!" Misato yelled. With her one free hand, she pulled her handgun off of her belt and pressed it to the chest of one of her attackers.

In a flash, somehow, Shinji knew what she was trying to do – detonate the horde, take them with her. Don't, he thought. Oh, God, please don't. Not her. Please –

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" the Doctor roared. He pointed the screwdriver at the gun. The safety sparked and fused in place. He aimed it elsewhere. One of the air vents opened all the way and blew a massive gust of smoke straight into the mob's faces.

The horde recoiled. The Doctor leapt forward. Grabbing ahold of the edge of the hole with one hand, he swung down and latched onto Misato's arm. She kicked herself free of the crowd's hands. The Doctor wrenched her upwards, his wirey frame straining, his face red. Shinji reached down and clutched Misato's other hand. He felt Toji grab ahold of his belt. Together, they pulled. They got her up to the breach's edge. She slammed her palm down and heaved herself and the Doctor out. No sooner had they scrambled clear that Kensuke pushed a bookshelf down over the hole. It slammed against the floor with a loud bang, covering the gap completely.

Shinji could still hear the mob screeching. Something thumped and scratched at the bottom of the turned-over bookshelf. Then the scraping stopped. The screams faded away, to be replaced only with the rumble of air being pushed through the vents.

Kensuke sat down on the bookshelf. "That –" He swallowed. An amazed, almost unhinged grin spread across his face. "That _just happened_."

* * *

><p><strong>The basement<strong>

"You must not tell anyone about what happened in this room," Rei said.

Hikari opened her eyes. Rei stood before her, covered from neck to toe in some kind of hideous, dark-colored fluid. In her hands, she held the tattered subway jacket, which she'd apparently just used to wipe off her face. The air smelled like blood. There was no sign of the monster.

"Wha –" Hikari glanced around the room. No sign of the thing at all - not even a body. "What happened? What did you – where did it go?"

"You must not tell," Rei repeated. There was something different about her – something in her eyes. Hikari couldn't quite place what it was. "You must promise. Please."

"Um." Hikari swallowed. "O-okay. Whatever you want, Rei. I promise."

Rei looked away, holding her arm. Something clicked inside Hikari's head. She knew what was different about Rei.

For the first time that day, Rei looked scared.

* * *

><p><strong>Classroom 3E. Third floor.<strong>

Misato put down Toji's cell phone. "Military's in the building," she said. "They just found Rei and your friend in the basement. They're both okay."

Toji breathed out. "Oh, thank God. Thank you, Miss Misato."

He sat down next to Kensuke and looked at him. Kensuke looked back, the same Doctor-ish grin on his face. Toji sighed. "Fine," he said. "I admit it. That _was_ kind of awesome."

Shinji shook his head and turned away. He sat cross-legged on the floor next to the staircase, still in the hazmat suit. The Doctor stood next to him, stretching out his shoulder and wincing. "So," Shinji asked. "Is it always about the last-minute rescues with you?"

"Wellllll, not always," the Doctor said. "But seems to work out like that pretty often, yeah. 'Sides, it's more fun that way."

Shinji snorted and looked away. Somehow, he realized, in spite of everything, he was smiling again.

"Okay." Misato wearily pulled herself to her feet. "That just leaves one last thing."

"Oh, right. The knife. Sorry about that." The Doctor nodded at the blade, which lay off in a tangle of exposed wire and extension cord off in the corner. "Had to overextend the wire a bit to get through the floor. Might be salvageable, though. You never know."

"That's not what I meant," Misato said.

She stepped in closer to the Doctor. Toji raised his eyebrows.

"What, then?" The Doctor looked at her, confused. "No. Seriously. What?"

Misato tilted her head and smiled coyly.

Then she kicked him in between the legs.

The grin immediately vanished from Kensuke's face. Shinji looked up at Misato in horror. "Mi... Misato?" he asked weakly.

The Doctor stood frozen in place, his face pale. He carefully swallowed. "Why," he said. "Why would you do that."

Misato jutted out her chin. "You broke my gun."

"Wh - why would you even see that being on the _same planet_ as _necessary_?!"

"_You broke my gun_!" Misato shouted back. "_And_ you stole my car. TWICE!"

"But I - urchhhkk..." The Doctor sputtered a few wordless syllables. "Oh, FINE! All right! Be that way!" He collapsed down into a nearby chair, arms crossed.

Misato turned and stalked out of the room. "She's... she's so scary," Toji whispered, a look of pure terror on his face.

"Scary hot," Kensuke murmured.

"Yeah..."

Shinji turned towards the Doctor. "Um. Are you..."

The Doctor waved him off. "I'm fine. Really. I mean it. I'm totally fine." He stood up. "Ehccch. No, I'm not." He sat back down, a sullen expression on his face.

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_I'm not quite sure why the Fourth Doctor seems to know so much about high heels. All I can say for certain is that there must be a story in that somewhere, and that his favorite brand is probably Cole Haan._


	28. Episode 5 Part IX

Episode 5: Parent-Teacher Conference  
>Part IX: Do you have any recommendations?<p>

**Misato's apartment.**

The sun had nearly set in the sky by the time Misato finally dragged herself back up the stairs and to her front door. Just about every inch of her hurt. She looked like a damned mummy, for all the bandages the hospital had insisted on wrapping her up in. Her hands, in particular, were completely bound in gauze and anti-inflammatory cream – she'd lost a lot of skin from the rope burn, they'd said – so she had to type in the door code with her nose.

He was waiting for her inside. Feet propped up on the kitchen table. Reading her newspaper. He'd changed his suit, at least.

She paused. Then walked past him to the fridge.

"So," she said, as she pulled out what was undoubtedly the most well-deserved can of beer she'd ever had in her life, "is breaking and entering just a lifestyle choice for you, or what?"

"Didn't have a choice." The Doctor flipped to the next page. "Too many security cameras. You take down too many for too long, people tend to notice."

"You don't say." She sat down across the table from him.

He flipped another page. "No comics," he muttered. "I don't understand that. Why would you make a newspaper without comics? Even just an editorial cartoon or two..."

She sighed. "Look – if this is about that one thing, I'm sorry. That was below the –"

"Forget about it." He folded up the paper and tossed it aside. "We'll just chalk it up to the heat of the moment, shall we? Just... don't do that again. _Ever._"

"So what are you doing here? Thought you said you didn't like monsters."

"Well – that is –" He glanced down at the unopened can of beer in her bandaged hands. "Are... you going to need help with that?"

She waved him off. "It's fine. I'll take care of it."

"Right. So. Business, then." He put his feet down on the floor and looked her in the eye. "That hospital you mentioned. The one for the adult pilots. Was that true?"

She looked down. "Yeah."

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I was afraid of that. Nothing's ever _simple_..."

She tried to pull up the can's tab. It felt like sticking her finger in a vise. "So, what... were you hoping we were just a pack of sadistic bastards? Using kid pilots for laughs, or something?"

"I wouldn't say _hoping_... but it just doesn't make any _sense_." He looked up towards the ceiling. "You've got the resources of the entire planet at your disposal. Why _wouldn't_ you take better care of two children?"

"Look – just the hell are you expecting from me here?!" She slammed the can down on the table. "Even _if_ everything you said is true – it doesn't change that we're in a fight for survival. And if I push back too hard against command, they'll just fire me and bring in someone who _doesn't_ give a damn about the pilots. And trust me, they won't have to look very hard!"

The Doctor didn't say anything.

She stared at the bandages on her hand. "I'm just... trying to get Shinji through this alive. Alive and... intact, I guess. And the way things have been going lately, I don't even know if I can do that."

The room was silent for a moment. Then the toilet flushed. Penpen opened the door to the bathroom and plodded across the kitchen to the fridge. He – or she, maybe. After all these years of owning one as a pet, Misato still wasn't entirely clear if cybernetically-augmented, genetically-engineered penguins _had_ a gender – opened the freezer and pulled out a sushi pack.

She glanced over at the Doctor, who looked remarkably unconcerned. "Are you going to ask –"

"Oh, we've met." The Doctor waved his hand vaguely. "Talked before you came in. Got into something of a... political disagreement, actually."

"Hmph." Penpen let out a dismissive grunt and turned up his nose. He stomped back into his hut.

"He's a bird of very strongly-held views." The Doctor grimaced as they watched him march out of the room. "Blimey. Nothing like getting the cold shoulder from a penguin, is there?"

Misato refused to laugh. She _refused_, dammit. Instead, she lifted the beer can to her face and pried open the tab with her teeth.

The Doctor turned to her as she took that first beautiful sip from the can. "Whatever's been going on here, whatever they're trying to do to Shinji and Rei – you genuinely don't know anything more about it than I do at this point, do you?"

She took another sip and shrugged. "Does it matter? _If_ they've been mistreated... it's still my responsibility in the end, isn't it? I let it happen."

The Doctor looked away. His gaze settled over a pile of discarded Yebichu cans in the corner. A smile spread across his face. "Heh."

"What?"

"Look at this place. Practically nothing but cheap beer in the icebox. Paint's already peeling in the living room. Carpet doesn't match any of the furnishings. And – not to be blunt here, but do you even own a vacuum? Or... y'know... heard of one?"

Misato narrowed her eyes. "You're really out to make me regret that apology, aren't you?"

He held up his hands. "Okay, okay. Not criticizing, just an observation... and it's not like my place is any better off, really... But the point I'm trying to make is – you did it anyway, didn't you?"

"Did what?"

"You took Shinji in. Gave him a home. Even though you didn't have to. Even though you can barely take care of yourself, let alone another human being..."

"Watch it."

"But you did it anyway. You chose to care. When the easiest thing in the world would've been to throw up your hands and leave him to his fate. Misato Katsuragi. The one bright spot in this entire city for him."

"Yeah, well..." She turned away. "Not going to matter very much if I get him killed, is it?"

"Well..." The Doctor crossed his arms. "We're just gonna have to make sure that doesn't happen, then. Aren't we?"

She chugged down the rest of the can, then set it down on the table. "Maybe."

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma.<strong>

"Do you really think you can deny responsibility for this incident, Ikari?"

A dozen black screens hovered in a circle around the office. It always drove Fuyutsuki up the wall. Here they were, surrounded by countless billions of yen in the latest telepresence equipment, including a state-of-the-art holographic projector the public wasn't allowed to know about... and the old bastards were all too paranoid to so much as be seen in the same room. They might just have well set up a dozen twenty-year-old televisions and called it a day.

"I deny nothing," the commander said. "However, I believe I have expressed my concerns regarding external security to the committee in the past. The JSSDF is simply unprepared for the variety of enemy threats and tactics that we must face. As this incident has conclusively demonstrated, has it not?"

The Frenchman wasn't about to let it go, of course. "But –"

The chairman cut him off. "Fine, Gendo. The emergency extension to the defense budget is approved. However, you are to do no active recruitment on your own. Existing personnel will be transferred to you from other NERV branches."

The commander didn't move a muscle. "I have no objections."

"Then the meeting is adjourned." The screens vanished, leaving the two of them alone in the room.

"Well, that was a little too easy, wouldn't you say?" Fuyutsuki said. "You know the old bastards are going to use this to send as many moles as they can over here, don't you?"

"Naturally." Gendo stared out into space. "I've already arranged certain countermeasures. In the meantime, good work disrupting the JSSDF's communications today."

"I might not have if you'd told me what it was for!" Fuyutsuki snapped. "The _school_, Gendo? Are you serious?!"

Gendo shrugged. "Katsuragi handled it. Regardless, it was a necessary risk. The committee has done its best to keep NERV as vulnerable as possible to conventional-scale military attacks. That way, they could counterbalance us with the JSSDF at their leisure. Now, they have little choice but to outfit us with our own private army.

"In addition, we gained valuable intelligence which might very well prove key to us in the future."

"Such as?"

The commander waved his hand. Two screens appeared in the air above his desk. One repeatedly looped through a clip of surveillance footage – an aerial shot of Captain Katsuragi and a tall man in a blue suit running across the school's rooftop. The other displayed a live video feed of a NERV science team combing through piles of junk in what looked like a chemistry lab. "As always, old friend," he said as he studied the flickering images, "you see, but you do not observe."

* * *

><p><strong>Tokyo-3.<strong>

It had been a funny sort of day, hadn't it? Long day. Very long. Not to mention painful. The Doctor rubbed his shoulder – that arm was going to be trouble for a while, he could tell – and limped around the corner to the alleyway where the TARDIS waited.

As he felt around his shirt pocket for the key, he heard a cough. "So, um," Shinji said. He sat on one of the dumpsters across from the TARDIS, the hazmat suit wrapped around his shoulders like a bright orange cape. "I just – let me just make sure I have this straight."

The Doctor looked at him. "All right."

"So the reason all of this happened – the train, what happened today, all of those people who died or got – got masked –"

"Yeah."

"All of that happened because some alien thing – which I'm pretty sure I killed – decided... for some kind of crazy, alien reason... that it wanted to give me a hug and then kill me."

"Looks like it, yeah."

Shinji shuddered. He pulled the hazmat suit a little tighter around himself and started to rock, slowly, back and forth on the dumpster.

"You gonna be okay?" the Doctor asked.

The boy shrugged. "I don't know. Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure."

"Could I still get that cup of tea?" Shinji looked up. "I think – I think I've had enough of this universe for right now."

The Doctor smiled. "Oh, I think that could be arranged." He snapped his fingers. The doors to the TARDIS popped open.

They walked into the blue box. "So," Shinji said, "if this place is bigger on the inside, does that mean there's more than just the one room?"

"Hohyes."

"Is there like a... padded one somewhere? One where I could... I don't know... What do you call it when you go, like, sort of temporarily crazy? Just for a little while?"

"A nervous breakdown?"

"Yeah! Yeah, that would be great."

"Wellll – you'd be surprised. I know it _looks_ like fun, but you'd be amazed just how _boring_ it gets after a while..."

The Doctor snapped his fingers again. The doors shut.

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_Phew. So this one took me a lot longer than I expected. Then again, it's been a pretty rough year for me personally - as in, the kind of rough that involves funerals. But at least I was able to get this far..._

_So have a math problem for anyone who's interested (minor spoilers for non-Eva fans ahead). We know that Rei is made out the same kind of material that the Evangelions and the Angels are. Now, according to the Square-Cube Law, this material must be by definition much, much stronger than human bone and muscle tissue, what with the Evas able to move and walk like normal-sized humans despite being hundreds of times the size and mass (not to mention with all of those tons of armor and equipment added on). So, assuming that an Evangelion is roughly 100 meters tall, how many times stronger must Rei be relative to a normal human schoolgirl?_

_I know, the whole thing hinges on one of those pesky laws of physics Evangelion and mecha anime in general prefer to ignore. All the same, I think it adds something to Rei's character to know that - at any point in her conversations with Asuka in the series - she could've snapped her in half like a twig._


	29. Bonus Material: Playlist

**Bonus Material: Playlist**

_Format:_  
>Title — Artist [Album] <em>(Optional Alternate Title)<em>

All the Strange Strange Creatures (The Trailer Music) — BBC National Orchestra of Wales [Doctor Who - Series 3 (Original Television Soundtrack)]

Doctor Who Theme — Murray Gold & BBC National Orchestra of Wales [Doctor Who (Original Television Soundtrack)]

Intro — Muse [Absolution]

Apocalypse Please — Muse [Absolution]

Unit Rocks — BBC National Orchestra of Wales & Ben Foster [Doctor Who (Original TV Series Soundtrack), Vol. 4] _(Misato Goes to Work)_

A Special Sort of Bus — Murray Gold [Doctor Who: Series 4 - The Specials] _(March of the Evangelions)_

Hanging On the Tablaphone — BBC National Orchestra of Wales & Ben Foster [Doctor Who (Original TV Series Soundtrack), Vol. 4]

Corridors and Fire Escape — BBC National Orchestra of Wales & Ben Foster [Doctor Who (Original TV Series Soundtrack), Vol. 4]

The Futurekind — BBC National Orchestra of Wales [Doctor Who - Series 3 (Original Television Soundtrack)]

The Dark and Endless Dalek Night — BBC National Orchestra of Wales & Ben Foster [Doctor Who (Original TV Series Soundtrack), Vol. 4] _(Armisael)_

My Angel Put the Devil In Me — BBC National Orchestra of Wales [Doctor Who - Series 3 (Original Television Soundtrack)]

The Sun's Gone Wibbly (feat. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales) — Murray Gold [Doctor Who Series 5]

A Pressing Need to Save the World — BBC National Orchestra of Wales & Ben Foster [Doctor Who (Original TV Series Soundtrack), Vol. 4]

Just Scarecrows to War — BBC National Orchestra of Wales [Doctor Who - Series 3 (Original Television Soundtrack)]

A Longing to Leave — Murray Gold [Doctor Who: Series 4 - The Specials]

Apollo I: The Writing Writer — Coheed and Cambria [Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness]

The Time of Angels (feat. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales) — Murray Gold [Doctor Who Series 5]

This Is Gallifrey: Our Childhood, Our Home — BBC National Orchestra of Wales [Doctor Who - Series 3 (Original Television Soundtrack)]

A Troubled Man (feat. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales) — Murray Gold [Doctor Who Series 5]

Amy In the TARDIS (feat. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales) — Murray Gold [Doctor Who Series 5] _(Asuka In the TARDIS)_

Time Is Running Out — Muse [Absolution]

Emotions Get the Better of Him (Bonus Track) — Murray Gold [Doctor Who Series 5]

The Doctor Forever — BBC National Orchestra of Wales [Doctor Who - Series 3 (Original Television Soundtrack)]

Davros — BBC National Orchestra of Wales & Ben Foster [Doctor Who (Original TV Series Soundtrack), Vol. 4] _(Gendo)_

Final Days — Murray Gold [Doctor Who: Series 4 - The Specials] _(Armageddon)_

This Planet Is Ours — Murray Gold [Doctor Who - A Christmas Carol]

Dealing With the Menace — Murray Gold [Doctor Who: Series 4 - The Specials]

Speeding to Earth — Murray Gold [Doctor Who: Series 4 - The Specials]

Zero (feat. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales) — Murray Gold [Doctor Who Series 5]

I Am the Doctor (feat. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales) — Murray Gold [Doctor Who Series 5]

The Source — BBC National Orchestra of Wales & Ben Foster [Doctor Who (Original TV Series Soundtrack), Vol. 4] _(Reunion)_

The Sad Man With a Box (feat. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales) — Murray Gold [Doctor Who Series 5]

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall — Bob Dylan [The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan]


	30. Episode 6 Part I

Episode 6: The Alien Terror  
>Part I: <em>-we came in?<em>

**Tokyo-3 First Municipal Middle School. Late September 2015.**  
><strong>T-46 Hours<strong>

The sound of the starter pistol reverberated over the school grounds. From his position carefully hidden behind a tree, Shinji stared glumly at the distant track as the runners began their circuit.

"Bit weird, wouldn't you say?"

Shinji swung his head to the side. The Doctor was behind him, of course, hands shoved into the pockets of his long brown coat, his brow wrinkled as if he had something distasteful stuck in his teeth.

Shinji briefly considered questioning to what degree the Doctor would be the best judge what was weird and what wasn't. Instead, he asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, all of this." The Doctor waved a hand impatiently across the girls' PE class in the distance. "Whole school's invaded by aliens, half the faculty and the better part of a class wiped out. You'd expect... Oh, I don't know... grief counselors. Boards of inquiry. Letters to the editor. That sort of thing. Instead, it's all, oh, fine fine, take the week off, back to the schedule on Monday." He wrinkled his nose. "They didn't even bother to plaster up the bullet holes."

Shinji shrugged.

A cool breeze rustled through the tree's branches. Across the field, one of the armed guards walking the school's periphery paused to yawn, then turned back to start another patrol. "So how was the field trip over the weekend?" the Doctor asked after a moment.

Shinji shrugged again. "I survived."

"Take it that's the latest recruit?" The Doctor nodded at the red-headed figure sitting by the track in the distance. "What's she like, then?"

"She's... umm..." Shinji searched his mind for the right word. Eventually, he had no choice but to circle back to the first one that'd popped into his head. "... scary."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Good scary or bad scary?"

"Just... scary." Shinji rubbed the spot on the top of his head where the new pilot had punched him and winced. The bruise still hurt. "_Very_ scary."

"Huh." The clock in the main building chimed. The Doctor sighed. "Anyway - I'd better get back. They're having me cover third-year physics now. But before I go, I really _do_ need to say something to the two up in the tree."

"Crap," Kensuke said from the branches over Shinji's head.

"Dammit, Shinji!" Toji's voice burst out from further up the tree. "You were supposed to watch out for crap like this!"

"Well, what was I supposed to do?!" Shinji snapped. "And I told you this was a bad idea!"

"Is that a camera?" The Doctor stared at the object in Kensuke's hands. "- oh, never mind. I don't want to know. Just stop it. It's just not right."

"Or what?" Toji challenged. "What are you gonna do? Tell our dads?"

"Nah, too much effort." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "I'll just tell your class representative once she gets back from hospital. Miss Horaki, wasn't it?..."

The tree was silent for a moment. "You fight dirty, Smith," Toji finally grumbled.

The Doctor grinned. "Oh, I fight to win."

The clock chimed again. Across the field, the girls clumped together and headed inside. As his friends climbed down from the tree - Toji sullenly, Kensuke remorsefully - Shinji felt the Doctor tap him on the shoulder. "One last thing - stop by later if you get a chance. Had a thought a few days back."

* * *

><p><strong>Inside the TARDIS.<strong>  
><strong>T-42 Hours, 23 Minutes<strong>

Shinji pushed himself up and hacked water onto the marble floor, his head spinning, the smell of chlorine in his nose.

"You all right there?" The Doctor looked down at him quizzically. Shinji managed to nod in the midst of his coughing fit. "You really don't know how to swim? You live on an island. Why wouldn't you know how to swim?"

Shinji shook his head. "Why -" he gasped out. "Why is there a pool in your library?"

"Why wouldn't there be? Here." The Doctor tossed Shinji a towel. It was white, fluffy and read 'The Holiday Inn - New New Albuquerque' in large green letters. "Come over this way when you get the chance. Mind the jacuzzi.

"Anyway - books!" The Doctor danced over to one of the large oak bookshelves that surrounded the pool on all sides. "Don't know why I didn't think of it before. I might not be able to take you to other worlds right now, but this is the next best thing. Now, let's see -"

Shinji got up and walked to him, carefully skirting the pool's edge. The Doctor immediately started piling books into his arms. "- _Traveller's Atlas of Asgard_... _Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_, of course... ooh, _Introduction to Humanoid Psychology_. Practically a survival manual around here, I'd say. Just ignore the bits about Hath and Sontarans...

"_Brief History of the War on Tara_... _Around Andromeda in 800 Years_... _A Sherpa on Felspoon_... _Lonely Planet Guide to the Ood-Sphere_... and why not, _Lord of the Rings_ and _Harry Potter_. Books one through seven."

He turned back to Shinji, who was at present struggling to hold up a stack of books that extended well above his head. "Now, coulda sworn I had a photo brochure from Ghibli around here. As in Ghibli _the planet_. Entire world based around the works of Miyazaki. Absolutely brilliant. Airships and flying castles as far as the eye can see..."

Shinji braced the pile against his chin. "Umm, who?"

The Doctor stared at him in horror. "You're _kidding me._ You don't have Miyazaki here? Miyazaki the animator? _Princess Mononoke_, _My Neighbor Totoro_, _Crimson Pig_?..."

Shinji searched his memory. "... wait, was he the guy who did _Astro Boy_? I think he might have died during Second Impact."

The Doctor stared off into space. "No _Spirited Away_, then," he muttered. "Or _Howl's Moving Castle_. Better throw in _Nausicaa_ and _Laputa_, just to be sure. Hold on, got the tapes somewhere -" He dashed off towards another bookshelf.

"Umm, Doctor?" Shinji's chin started to itch. He skeptically glanced up the tower of books pressed against his face. "Is this - are these really going to help me somehow?..."

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters. Central Dogma. The EVA Cages.<strong>  
><strong>T-30 Hours, 45 Minutes<strong>

"Jeez, Shinji," Misato said over the comm link. "You look terrible. How much sleep did you get?"

"I didn't," Shinji said, his voice hollow. He could feel - actually _physically_ feel - the bags under his eyes. "Couldn't stop reading."

She shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh. Shinji rubbed the bridge of his nose, which for some reason felt oddly distant, as if it'd been relocated a few more centimeters away from his face. He was sitting inside of Unit One's entry plug. All around the Evangelion, restraints made from tons of solid concrete and steel pulled back towards the wall. Treads the size of city streets clanked and groaned as the platform carrying the behemoth began to move towards the launch silo.

"Here's the situation." A holographic map of Japan sprang up on screen next to Misato's image. A constellation of flickering red dots surrounded the city in a vague spiral, extending out into the ocean. "For the last several hours, we've been tracking a series of explosions heading towards us. Based on the rate of progress, we expect the city to come under fire within the next hour."

"Excuse me, ma'am." Rei's voice. "What is the source of these attacks?"

"We don't know." Misato brushed away a stray hair with a bandaged hand. (The cuts on her face looked better today, at least.) "Satellite imagery shows nothing unusual, and the remote forensic teams haven't found any trace of an explosive compound. All we know for certain right now is that each detonation site has tested positive for blood type blue. So somehow, there's an Angel behind all of this.

We're hoping that our own sensors will pick something up as it gets closer. In the meantime, we need to be prepared for anything. Unit Zero, we're putting you on top of the mountain with the positron rifle. Establish oversight of the city and await further orders."

"Yes, ma'am," Rei said.

"Unit One, we'll be sending you to reinforce Unit Two. She's already been deployed just off of the projected incidence path. You're both to hunker down and stay alert. Got it, Shinji?

"Shinji?!"

"Alert. Right. Got it." Shinji rubbed his eyes. It didn't really seem to help.

"All right, then. All units, launch!"

Wait, launch? When had they gotten to the launch pa -

* * *

><p><strong>Tokyo-3<strong>

Unit One popped out onto the surface. Shinji pulled himself out of the usual indent in his chair the g-forces had shoved him into and tried to shake the cobwebs out of his head. C'mon, he thought. Wake up. You've got to wake up. You could die here, if you don't -

"What are you, _stupid_?! _Get down!_"

The next thing Shinji knew, something swept out Unit One's legs, sending it - and him - crashing to the ground. He raised his aching head to find himself looking up at Eva Unit Two, its bright red armor gleaming in the early morning sun. It knelt beside a skyscraper, a rifle in its hands.

"You call those reflexes?! Pathetic!" The face of Asuka Langley Soryu, pilot of Unit Two, flashed up on screen, her red hair glowing like the sunrise, her nose wrinkled like she'd stepped in something disgusting.

Shinji let out a low groan. Way, _way_ too early in the morning for this, he thought.

"And hasn't Misato taught you _anything_ by now?!" Asuka tossed her hair. "ABC - Always Be in Cover!"

Shinji glanced at the skyscraper - which looked to be some sort of hotel - as he righted his Eva. He couldn't help but notice the building looked a lot thinner than a mountain. "Is that... really going to help if an Angel shows up?"

"Of course it will! Basic tactics, _dummkopf_. They can't shoot us if they can't see -"

There was a flash of light in the distance behind them. The air rumbled. The ground shook. Wordlessly, the two Evas rose to their feet.

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma<strong>

"Explosion confirmed within city limits." Lieutenant Aoba flicked his eyes from one monitor to the next. "Position... three blocks north of Units One and Two."

"Rei, do you see anything?" Misato asked.

"Negative, ma'am," Rei whispered through the radio link. "Scope is clear."

Misato looked at Maya. "Lieutenant?"

"MAGI analysis in progress." Maya's eyes scanned across the screen. "Picking up Angel matter, trace amounts of radiation, some odd noise on radar and infrared above the detonation site..." Her console emitted a high-pitched, plaintive tone. "... wait. That can't be right."

"What?"

"The MAGI report that all of that only appeared immediately _after_ the explosion." The lieutenant shook her head, bewildered. "They show _zero_ relevant sensor contacts prior to detonation. I'm sorry, ma'am. We've got nothing."

* * *

><p><strong>Tokyo-3<strong>

"Where are you?" Asuka hissed. "Come on! Show yourself, you coward!" Unit Two fired off a spray of bullets northward. An errant shot clipped a corner off the roof of the office building across the street. Shinji winced.

He glanced around. Just one more hour, he thought to himself. All he had to do was make it one more hour. Then Misato would call this whole thing off, and he could go back to a world where things made _sense_, where there was good and evil and things like Angels and Evas seemed like they were a million miles away...

The hotel next to them exploded.

The shockwave catapulted Unit One face-first into the office building, where it bounced back down into the street. Coughing, his ears ringing, Shinji pulled the Eva back onto its hands and knees. He found himself on the edge of the crater left by the blast. Glancing to the side, he could see Unit Two faceplanted further down the block. He could just barely hear radio chatter in the background - Asuka cursing up a storm, Misato shouting something urgently. He looked down...

... and found himself gaping at Unit One - the purple color of its armor barely recognizable under layers of burns and dirt and melted steel plate - lying at the bottom of the pit, its dead eyes staring back up at him.

Shinji froze. He glanced around the cockpit. He raised his Eva's hand. The other Unit One at the bottom of the crater didn't move. So it wasn't a reflection...

"What," he said. "_What._"


	31. Episode 6 Part II

Episode 6: The Alien Terror  
>Part II: <em>has he lost his mind?<em>

**NERV Headquarters - Conference Room Broca.**  
><strong>T-26 Hours, 35 Minutes<strong>

"Our preliminary data indicates that it's from the future."

There was a moment of silence as everyone in the room digested Maya's words. She looked down at her papers, her cheeks slightly red, and coughed.

Shinji glanced around the room. Asuka sat a few seats away from him, her arms crossed, her mouth compressed into a thin, angry line. He could see Rei down in the front row, behind a sea of uniformed officers. In the back of the room, Ryoji Kaji - the thin, lanky man appointed as Asuka's official caretaker - waved at him cheerfully.

"It being...?" Misato finally asked.

"The second Unit One." Maya waved her hand over the conference room's holoscreen. An image of the Evangelion came up. "We've been calling it Unit 1B for the sake of convenience. It appears to be _our_ Unit One from approximately 32 hours into the future."

"You mean tomorrow night," Misato said.

"Yes, ma'am. Or at least that seems to be the case."

"And we know that because...?"

"Because of the data we've recovered from its internal systems." Maya gestured. A list of files floated up to her hand. "What information we have _is_ fragmentary. Most of 1B's recorders seem to have been damaged in a manner consistent with large-scale electromagnetic interference, to the point that the majority of the data has been lost. We've nonetheless established certain facts."

"Such as?" Misato rubbed her temples.

"At 1228 hours tomorrow, the unit's sensors registered - err, will register - a massive shock, equivalent to over six hundred megatons of TNT." Maya pressed her thumb against one of the files. "At 1441, this video is recorded by the Eva's cameras."

A video clip appeared and expanded to the size of a movie screen. At first, Shinji thought he was looking at some kind of desert. Then he noticed that he could see the outline of Mt. Fuji in the distance, as if from the shore of Lake Ashi. There didn't seem to be any water, though. The landscape in front of him was little more than a flat plain of dust and boiling mud. A heavy curtain of ash and steam hung in the air.

The video abruptly cut to another shot. The Evangelion was on the move through the wasteland, the camera jolting with its every step. Another cut. The Eva bent down and pulled something out of the mud. It held up in one hand Unit Two's head. Shinji glanced towards Asuka. She saw him and snorted derisively, shaking her head.

When Shinji looked back at the screen, he found himself looking down into a deep pit. The Evangelion stood at the edge of a vast crater, kilometers wide. With a jolt, he realized that he was looking at the city - or, at least, where it had been. Fragments of familiar buildings littered the landscape. At the bottom of the crater, what little was left of the Geofront had caved in, exposed to the sky, but filled to the brim with dirt and rubble.

The view shifted as the Evangelion knelt down. It placed Unit Two's head down carefully at the crater's edge. Then everything dissolved into static.

"That's it." Maya closed the video. "At 1742 hours, the unit recorded that the entry plug ejected. That's the last piece of data we've been able to extract."

The room fell silent. After a moment, Lieutenant Hyuga cleared his throat. "Excuse me. So if Unit One - sorry, I mean, 1B - is really from tomorrow, what's it doing here?"

"We have no idea." Maya spread her hands. "This situation is completely unprecedented in the history of science. People have talked about time travel in theory before, but no one has ever seen anything like this."

"But going off what's right in front of us..." Misato leaned forward in her chair. "Okay, first things first - I want the entire region evacuated out to fifty kilometers. Special order D-17. Let's make it happen."

Several people got up and rushed out of the room.

"Next item - where's Ritsuko?"

"I don't know where Dr. Akagi is, ma'am," Maya said. "She left me a message earlier this morning that she'd been called away on a high-priority assignment."

"High priority?!" Misato's eyebrow twitched. Shinji instinctively shifted back in his seat away from her. "What the hell is higher-priority than this?!"

Maya bowed her head. "She didn't say, ma'am. I'm sorry."

"Well - aagh." Misato growled, then sat back. "Just - just find her, okay? We need her here."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll do my best."

"Hey, excuse me." Lieutenant Aoba raised a hand. "Just want to make sure I'm getting all of this. Assuming all of this science-fiction stuff is real - and I'm guessing it has to be, unless someone out there has a few billion to dump into making a replica of Unit One..."

"An exact _working_ replica, actually," Maya said. "Aside from the surface damage and some trauma to the hands, 1B seems to be fully intact and in operating condition."

"Okay, so a few _trillion_, then -"

"Also, we fight aliens. So we're already sort of _in_ science-fiction territory, when you think about it."

"Yeah, I noticed, Maya, thanks for that, really..." Lieutenant Aoba shook his head. "So if 1B is the real thing and what you just showed us is going to happen - we're all probably going to die tomorrow. Except maybe him." He pointed his thumb at Shinji, who flinched.

The room went quiet.

Maya swallowed. "That... seems to be the most likely scenario at the moment, yes."

"Well. Okay, then." The lieutenant sat back. "Just as long as we're all on the same page."

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters - Corridor BA45.<strong>  
><strong>T-26 Hours, 1 Minute<strong>

It was another twenty minutes before Shinji managed to sneak out of the meeting. He quietly shut the door to the conference room and backed away.

"So where are _you_ going?" Asuka said from behind him.

Shinji froze. "Oh! Um. Hi." He slowly turned around. She was leaning against the wall, still in her plug suit, her arms crossed in front of her. "Hi. Yeah. Um. I have - uh - I've got stuff. To do. For, um, school."

"For school."

"Um. Yeah."

"The entire city is set to explode tomorrow, and you're worried about _homework_." She rolled her eyes theatrically. "Tell me you're seriously not this boring."

"Uh..." He shrugged helplessly.

"Anyway..." She tossed her hair. "Not that I believe any of that crap."

"You don't?"

"Of course not!" she snapped. "As if my Unit Two couldn't take anything that obsolete rustbucket of yours could." She narrowed her eyes. "Well, unless you were hiding behind me or something. I could see that."

"Is... that an option?" Shinji asked hopefully, before he could stop himself.

She eyed him with a look somewhere between disgust and disbelief. "Oh, come _on_..."

"Shinji?" Misato opened the door. "Oh, good. Asuka, could you go back inside? I'll be right back. We just need to talk about something."

"Fine, fine." Asuka shot a glance at Shinji as she turned away. "_Some_ of us have to be professionals here, after all..." She swaggered back into the conference room.

Misato shut the door. "You're going to _him_ with this, aren't you."

"Yeah."

She sighed and shook her head. "Fine. Just tell him, he doesn't do _anything_ this time before he passes it by me first. Last thing I need is some... stupid British cowboy running around."

"I'll tell him," Shinji said carefully. Making the Doctor listen, on the other hand...

"Good." Misato turned away. "All the same, I have to admit... this kind of crap is right up his alley, isn't it?"

Shinji swallowed. "You have no idea..."

* * *

><p><strong>The TARDIS.<strong>  
><strong>T-24 Hours, 39 Minutes<strong>

"No," the Doctor said as firmly as he could. He retreated to the other side of the console.

The Ninth stayed right on his heels. "Just a little one! As a test case!"

"I said no!" The Doctor flicked the switch for the auxiliary dark energy transducer. It refused to start, so he whacked the switch with his mallet. For some reason, that didn't seem to help.

"But -"

The Doctor turned and stared the Ninth directly in the eye. "Listen to me. For the last time - we are not experimenting with paradoxes just to try and get to Rose. She's safe. She's happy. _Leave it_."

The Ninth crossed his arms. "You tellin' me that? Or yourself?"

The Doctor looked away. He pivoted to the rest of his incarnations, clumped in a group behind him. "And you lot - first time you shut up all week, and you leave me alone with _this_? A little support here, maybe?"

"Um."

The Doctor spun around. He was alone in the console room... except for Shinji, who hovered nervously by the doorway.

"Oh, Shinji. Right." The Doctor scratched the back of his head.

"Do you want - I could come back."

"No, no, it's fine." The Doctor waved his hand as he turned back to the console. "I'm just - well. It's been years since I've been stuck in one place for this long. It's starting to drive me a bit barmy, that's all."

"You get... barm-ier?" Shinji stepped inside, dropping his shoes by the side of the door.

The Doctor decided to pretend he hadn't heard that. "And that's not to mention being stuck in the same _time_. All the days going round and round again in the same order... all those _Sundays_ I can't just skip past..." He contemplated yet another long, dark, _dull_ teatime of the soul and shuddered.

"Um," Shinji said. "About that."

* * *

><p>The Doctor listened to the entire story without saying a word, staring out into space. "And it's the exact same cyborg?" he asked as Shinji finished. "They're certain of that?"<p>

"Pretty sure, yeah."

The Doctor kept the same expression. "Fixed points, obviously," he murmured under his breath. "Wouldn't make sense to just... which means..."

"RIGHT!" he suddenly shouted and clapped his hands, loud enough to make Shinji jump. He turned to Shinji, a wide grin on his face. "So. Twenty-four hours to save the world. Brilliant, isn't it?"

"I... guess?" Shinji stifled a yawn. Oh, he thought. Right. The whole lack-of-sleep thing. It was catching up with him now, wasn't it.

The Doctor rushed to the console. "I'm - going - to - need," he said, in between switch pulls and button presses, "you to describe that video you saw to me again. As much detail as you can. And -" He stopped. "Oh. Right. Pass me your phone, could you?"

"Why? I thought you had one of your own now."

"Left it in my coat." The Doctor went back to work. "Phone. Now, please."

Shinji looked at the Doctor's coat, hanging off of a column perhaps three or four paces away, sighed, and passed over his cell phone.

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters - Conference Room Wernicke.<strong>  
><strong>T-23 Hours, 45 Minutes<strong>

Misato heard her cell phone buzz in the midst of briefing the JSSDF brass. Unfortunately, the generals weren't the type to say one word when they could say three, preferably in as loud a tone as possible. She finally managed to sneak a look at her text messages during the usual squabble between Maritime and Air Commands:

+ looking into it. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT LET THEM TOUCH! THIS IS ***IMPORTANT***! More later.

+ Misato: I think "them" means the Evas - 1 and 1b. He says if they touch, the fabric of space and time will implode. S

+ Either that or demon invasion. Says it could go either way. S

+ Anyway, we're going to one of the explosion sites. He says he wants to take a closer look.

+ I'm really really tired right now. S.

* * *

><p><strong>Tokyo-3<strong>  
><strong>T-20 Hours, 56 Minutes<strong>

Shinji's eyes felt heavy - actually, literally heavy, as if they had ten-pound weights hanging from them. In fact, all he had to do was relax his neck like _so_, and they'd drag his head downwards... He lost his balance and stumbled a step forward...

The Doctor put out a hand and caught the back of his collar. "Yeeeaaaahhh, wouldn't do that. We're close enough to the radiation as is."

"Radiation?" Shinji opened his eyes.

They were standing on a street corner in the midtown district. Most of the block across the road - or, at least, what parts Shinji could see through the thick cordon of police barricades and hazard tape that blanketed the area - had been reduced to rubble. Security guards were everywhere. As he watched, two figures in lead-lined hazard suits walked by, rifles slung over their shoulders.

"Not enough to be a fission reaction," the Doctor muttered. "Probably just naturally decaying isotopes." He licked one of his fingers and held it up in the air. "Yep. Tritium, sodium-22, cobalt, bit of flourine-18... just like momma used to - hang on, does that look weird to you?"

He pointed to a white dome further down the street, two blocks west of the rubble. It was, on second glance, an inflatable building, set up in what looked like a parking lot. A large digital clock, accurate to the millisecond, sat just outside the entrance. Security around the dome was if anything even heavier than it was around the detonation site. Shinji could see at least a dozen guards collected around its base, in addition to several jeeps and what looked like a small tank.

He looked back to the Doctor. "If I say yes, will you let me sleep?"

"Yeah... that looks weird." The Doctor scratched the back of his head absentmindedly, still staring at the dome. "Right, then." He strode off towards the line of guards in the distance, vaguely in the direction of the tank. Shinji groaned and staggered after him, rubbing his eyes.


	32. Deleted Scene: turned to steel

Episode 6: The Alien Terror  
>Deleted Scene: <em>turned to steel<em>

**Class 2-A. Tokyo-3 First Municipal Middle School.**  
><strong>T-50 Hours, 55 Minutes<strong>

"I'm Asuka Langley Soryu. Charmed, I'm sure!"

It was all about first impressions with the norms. Stand up straight and proud. Chest out. One hand on hips to convey strength. Smile coyly, with just a hint of mystery. And bam - one perfect Big Entrance, straight out of Papa's playbook.

She'd nailed it, of course. Looking around the classroom, Asuka could tell she already had most of the boys practically drooling (not that she cared about this pack of Neanderthal mouthbreathers, eww - but she needed to establish her spot on the social hierarchy _somehow_, and every paper she'd read made it clear that sexual attractiveness was a key factor to status among adolescent females). With the exception of what's-his-face, Mr. Small Fry, and his nerd friend - but why worry about _them_. (Besides, it's not like they both didn't want her anyway.) Then there was Shinji, the big dope - staring at her blankly, like a newborn infant being presented with a new color. (Seriously, _this_ was the famous Third Child? This... this _kid_? Well, okay, he'd had enough chops to stay out of her way on the carrier, but still...)

Anyway, onto the introduction speech. She'd run through it twice the previous night, so she wasn't as worried about this part. All she had to do was -

"Right, sorry, could we just put this on pause?"

Asuka snapped her head around. Who _dared_ - oh, wait, that must be the teacher. He swept into the room, brown coat billowing, a stack of papers under his arm.

"But," she said.

"Miss Soryu, wasn't it? Thank you. That was - um - different. We'll get back to introductions in just a minute. If you could just take your seat - just have a few announcements before we get started -"

She went back to her desk, silently fuming. How _rude_! Who did this idiot think he was, anyway?! And what kind of shoddy teacher arrived five minutes late to his own class?! Actually, now that she thought about it, the whole classroom looked shoddy. The wall off to the side looked like it was made out of cheap plywood, barely even painted. And were those _scorch marks_ on the ceiling?...

"So. Um." The teacher leaned against the chalkboard. "Here we are again, then. One week later. Just a week..." He scratched the back of his head. "Is this seriously how these things go, though? Big attack, then just back to work? No sort of... group therapy? Or charity telethon? Celebrity singalong, maybe?... No?"

No one said anything. Asuka stole a sidelong glance at the girl sitting next to her. She seemed to be crying silently. Weird... what was that about?

"Blimey. No wonder I don't usually stick around for this part." He coughed. "Anyway - right, announcements. I'll be taking over Science and Literature for the time being, while Mr. Kolke is off recovering... from, er, being a zombie. And as I just found out about this seven minutes ago and the lesson plans seem to have been vaporized at some point, I'm thinking we'll spend most of today on Muppet Show reruns.

"Oh - and heard from Miss Horaki's father this morning. She's doing fine. Just a light concussion. He left her number at the hospital, if anyone wants to get in touch.

"And that's it, I think. Any questions? Anyone?... Toji?"

Mr. Limpy lowered his hand. "Muppet Show... That's the one with the frog, right?"

"Right."

He nodded solemnly. "Acceptable."

"Anyone else, then?... No? All right, briefly to English. Just a quick refresher to make sure you understand the two old blokes in the peanut gallery. And forget about the homework from last time, it's not important..." The teacher turned and started scribbling on the chalkboard.

_Unbelievable_. He'd seriously forgotten about her introduction?! Asuka had half a mind to simply storm out of the classroom. Who could've possibly given this moron a teaching certificate?...

... Although...

She gave the teacher another look. Tall. Skinny. Accent straight from London. _Very_ nice suit... not quite as cute as Mr. Kaji, but still...

She turned to the girl on her other side - the one who wasn't leaking. "Hey," she whispered. "What's this guy's name?"

The girl pushed her glasses back. "That's the Doctor."

"Okay... but what's his name?"

The girl shrugged.

Obviously, the Japanese education system had missed a candidate for the _special_ class. Still, at least that gave Asuka something to work with. She raised her hand. "Excuse me, Doctor?"

He turned. "Er, yes, Miss Soryu?"

"What should we do if we already speak English?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Really."

"Sure. I spent part of my childhood in America." She tried her best BBC impression. "See, I can even manage an English accent..."

"Yeah, don't do that. Really, don't." He scratched his chin. "Still, all the same - _Willkommen, fräulein._ I'll have to figure something out..."

"Oh," she said, surprised. "_Sprichst Du Deutsch?_"

"Eh, _ein wenig._" He waved a hand. "But anyway -"

She switched to Russian. "_Ty govorish' po-russki?_"

(At this point, the entire class was staring at her. Perfect.)

"Well, _da_..."

"_Et parles-tu français?_"

He grinned. "Oh, _naturellement!_"

Then he said something she couldn't quite make out.

Asuka narrowed her eyes and concentrated. "Was that Norwegian?"

"Swedish, actually. No, wait..." He paused and thought for a moment. "Old Norse... right. Forget I said that."

She blinked.

"Still - not bad, Miss Soryu. Not bad at all." The Doctor grinned again. "Let me give it some thought. Should be able to find something to keep you entertained..." He turned back to the chalkboard.

Asuka sat back in her seat. Well... easy on the eyes _and_ smarter than he looked. (Though why anyone would learn a Scandinavian language - much less an extinct one - was beyond her. That was, like, _double_ the useless.) Things were looking up. Maybe this school thing wasn't going to be a _complete_ waste of time after all...


	33. Episode 6 Part III

Episode 6: The Alien Terror  
>Part III: <em>can he see or is he blind?<em>

**NERV Remote Site SACRAL-3**  
><strong>T-20 Hours, 44 Minutes<strong>

"I don't get how you do that," Shinji said as the airlock cycled.

"Do what?"

"How you can just stroll through checkpoints without anyone questioning you. Even with _that_." He gestured towards the psychic paper, still in the Doctor's hand.

The Doctor sniffed. "Just have an honest face, I suppose."

The inner dome opened and they walked into the dome. The building was bisected by a thick, ceiling-high metal wall. On this side of the divide, someone had set up a maze of fabric cubical partitions. The air smelled like bleach and cigarettes.

"It's a good thing, too." Shinji added. "Your cover stories are kind of horrible."

"Oh, come off it." The Doctor stopped to examine a wall clock.

"It's true!" Shinji insisted. "Well, okay, that whole UNIT thing wasn't bad, but the one back on the train -"

"Shinji? What are you doing here?"

Shinji spun around and saw Ritsuko leaning out from one of the cubicles, a puzzled expression on her face. She looked exhausted, her reading glasses askew, her bleached-blonde hair in disarray.

"Oh, brilliant! Hello there!" The Doctor reached forward, that familiar goofy smile on his face, and offered his hand. "Dr. Akagi, isn't it? I've heard a lot about you. Well, not a whole lot, what with the super top-secret organization and all. But what I did hear was really quite impressive! Well, not _impressive_ impressive, but..."

Ritsuko eyed him. "And you are...?"

"Right, sorry. Dr. John Smith. I'm Shinji's teacher. And also -" He flashed the psychic paper. "- Ministry of Education and Technology. Health and Safety Division. Shinji's helping me out on my rounds for extra credit. He needs it, what with all the world-saving and, er, giant-roboting and all..." Shinji raised an eyebrow. The Doctor shot him a look. "But anyway - we just happened to be passing by, and I couldn't help but notice... your clocks seem to be running a bit slow."

Ritsuko adjusted her glasses. "Oh, you noticed that, did you? I'm impressed."

"So the clocks are wrong. So what?" Shinji asked. "That happens all the time."

"Not these," the Doctor said. "They're all laboratory-standard atomic clocks. Should all be in sync. Every last one."

"It's called time dilation, Shinji." Ritsuko took off her glasses and rubbed them against her lab coat. "Time in this building and its immediate surroundings runs more slowly than it does outside. The effect is minor at this range - just a second or two out of every minute - but it's still measurable. It's a well-known feature of Einstein's theory of relativity, all perfectly in line with our current knowledge of physics... except for the part where we really should be traveling closer to the speed of light in order to see this sort of thing."

"Any idea what's causing it?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh, of course." Ritsuko moved her chair aside and waved her hand at a row of monitors behind her. "It's _that_, obviously."

Shinji leaned in and studied one of the screens. The image on it showed a big eight-wheeler truck, painted entirely white, parked in a large room somewhere else in the dome. Several motionless figures were positioned around it - a pair of NERV soldiers, a worker in a hazmat suit, two drivers in the front - all frozen in place, like they were paralyzed. The truck's back doors were open, and beyond them he could see... "Wait, that's..."

"It's a piece of the core of the Second Angel," Ritsuko said. "Specifically, the part that we think contains the S2 engine, the source of the Angels' power. You were there the day we extracted it, remember, Shinji?"

"What happened?" The Doctor edged in closer to the screens.

"We were in the process of shipping the sample to another location for analysis." Ritsuko turned back to the desk in front of her and started to type into a laptop. "As far as we can tell, in the midst of moving it through the city, the engine spontaneously reactivated. The driver had just enough time to park before the dilation effect started. As a result, it's been stuck here for weeks."

"Some sort of defense mechanism, you think?"

"Maybe." Ritsuko shrugged. "We've been trying to shut it down or drain its power remotely, but we haven't had much luck. We can't manipulate the sample directly, since the dilation gets worse in the engine's local vicinity. As you can see." She gestured to one of the still figures on the monitors.

"So, um... you know what's going on outside, right?" Shinji asked. "I mean, the whole city-blowing-up-tomorrow thing."

"That's why I'm here." Ritsuko pulled off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "The insights we could gain from this sample might very well be the key to humanity's survival. If the city is going to be destroyed, we have to get it out of here as soon as possible. Especially since the enemy seems to know that it's here."

The Doctor nodded. "You're talking about the explosion outside."

"It's too close to be a coincidence. For all we know, this might even be the target of the entire attack."

"Mmmh. Wait, hold on -" The Doctor stared over Ritsuko's shoulder at the laptop screen. "Are those live test results from the other room?"

"Yes, of course. Why -" Ritsuko's cell phone went off. She pulled it out of her lab coat and glanced at the screen. "I have to take this. Don't touch anything. This equipment is highly sensitive." She got up and walked past them out of the cubical.

Shinji watched her go. When he turned back, the Doctor was already standing over the laptop, hitting the tab key repeatedly. Shinji sighed. "Do you even hear people when they tell you not to do things?"

"These readings... I know what this is," the Doctor said in a distant tone of voice. "This is _artron_ energy. Which means... but it _can't be_..."

"Can't be what?"

"This S2 engine thing..." The Doctor turned and stared at the chunk of blood-red crystal on the monitor. "It's a _vortex transformer_."

"A what?"

"The vortex... well, imagine, like a sort of... _basement_ underneath reality that links up with every point in space and time. It's what the TARDIS travels through, when it's running... this thing, though. It's actually pulling energy from the vortex into normal space. Probably can manipulate it at the same time, I bet..." The Doctor paused and stared out into space. "That's how they're doing it, then."

"Doing what?" Shinji asked. His head started to hurt. "And who's _they_?"

"Anyway." The Doctor shook his head, then glanced around the cubical. "What else do we got here?" His gaze fell on a large array of switches and knobs on the desk next to the laptop.

"... you're really going to do this, aren't you."

"Keep an eye out. Let me know if she's coming back." The Doctor took out his screwdriver as he looked over the controls. "Oh, and get ready to run. Let's see... scintillation counter... CT scanner... coffeemaker, I think..."

Shinji stuck his head out over the cubicle wall. Ritsuko was on the other side of the room, her back turned to him. It was strange, he thought, as he lowered his head. He never would have expected it, but at times like this, he could really understand where Hermione was coming from.

* * *

><p><strong>T-20 Hours, 4 Minutes<strong>

They were already gone by the time Ritsuko returned to her desk. The first thing she did was run an equipment check. Everything seemed to be in order. So she went back to work.

Precisely ten minutes later, she heard an unfamiliar voice say: "Um, excuse me? Is there anyone there?"

She turned. On the monitors, one of the soldiers stood in front of the truck, looking directly up at one of the cameras. The other helped one of the drivers - who'd spent the last month opening his door - down onto the ground.

* * *

><p><strong>T-19 Hours, 57 Minutes<strong>

"So that dilation thing," said Shinji as they left the dome. "You fixed it, right?"

"Right." The Doctor glanced around. "Well, broke it, technically. Set off a resonance collapse within the transformer. It'll never work again."

"Don't they need it working to take it apart?"

"Yeaaahhh, that's just it." He strode over to one of the security Humvees and started to unscrew the radio antenna off the back. "Nothing good'll come from them messing with vortex technology right now. It'd be like King Childeric III poking around inside a nuclear reactor with a fire iron. Which happened, actually... I'm still trying to get the stains out of the carpet."

"Excuse me." A security guard came around the side of the Humvee, a shotgun in his hands. "Exactly what do you think it is you're doing?"

"Need to borrow this, sorry." The Doctor passed Shinji the antenna and moved on to the small satellite dish on the other side of the vehicle. "Have it back in a jiff. The Emperor thanks you for your patience."

Shinji looked down at the antenna in his hands and sighed.


	34. Deleted Scene: heavy boots of lead

Episode 6: The Alien Terror  
>Deleted Scene: <em>heavy boots of lead<em>

**NERV Headquarters - Conference Room Broca.**  
><strong>T-21 Hours, 31 Minutes<strong>

Could this day get _any_ worse? Not only was her Japan debut ruined - why couldn't she have gotten a nice, _simple_ Angel for her first time, like the other pilots? - but, once again, that idiot Third Child and his rustbucket had stolen the spotlight. It wasn't fair. Hadn't he hogged enough of the glory already? Didn't he have an ounce of compassion or common courtesy?! How could he be so damned _selfish_?!

Stupid Shinji. Stupid time travel. It just wasn't fair...

"Asuka?" Misato asked.

She looked up. "Yeah? What?"

The meeting had dwindled down to just the essentials - just Misato, some of her senior staff, Asuka and the First Child. (Where were the commander and vice-commander, anyway? Asuka had only seen them once since she'd arrived. Jeez. Looked like the father was just as lazy and irresponsible as the son...) Everyone else was off running the big evacuation. Appearently, there were a lot of problems. Something about a fallout zone already to the north... honestly, Asuka hadn't really been listening.

Misato folded her hands. "So... we need to be prepared for the worst case scenario. I want to make sure you and your Eva are prepared to survive, no matter what."

"Technically, the video never shows Unit Two's full destruction," What's-her-name, Polite Lab Assistant Woman, said. "You might be able to pull through without the head, provided that the neural link between you and the Eva is cut before the feedback can reach you. Normally, we could handle that remotely from command. But if Headquarters is compromised before that point..."

"Asuka - do you know how to terminate the link yourself if you need to?" Misato asked.

"Of course!" Asuka smirked. Didn't they know she'd _built_ her own interfaces from scratch? "Who do you think you're talking to?"

"What about automating that process? In case you get distracted in combat."

"I _don't_ get distracted," Asuka snapped.

"I'm not saying you do," Misato said quietly. "I'm just trying to cover every possibility. Is there anything in Unit Two that could automatically cut the link in response to damage?"

"Who knows?" Asuka folded her arms and shrugged. "What does it matter? It's not going to happen anyway."

Misato sighed. "Rei?"

"In addition to the HT/HP Portal System for external management," the First Child said, "Unit Two is equipped with the VM/AR-812 Hyporegulator Array. Theoretically, the component will cut off sensory input to the pilot in response to damage to the Eva. However, the system has not been combat-tested, and there is some concern that its use in the field might interfere with synchronization."

Asuka's jaw dropped. What the hell - even _she_ hadn't bothered to memorize the freaking _part numbers_ in the manual!

"Great," Misato said. "Let's use it. Maya, make a note - we'll need that up and running on Unit Two before morning."

"Yes, ma'am."

Her face red, Asuka got up from her chair and rushed down the aisle to the space behind where the First Child sat. "How did you know all that?" she hissed.

The girl looked at her with those freaky red eyes. "I was ordered to memorize the technical specifications for all Evangelions on base."

"Why?"

"I was told it was so I could serve as a replacement pilot for Units One and Two, in case either you or pilot Ikari are unavailable or incapacitated."

Asuka stood there, completely speechless. The First Child looked at her for another moment, devoid of expression, then turned back to the meeting.

Asuka collapsed in the chair behind her, stunned. She - she could be _replaced_? No, wait, scratch that - they _thought_ that she could be replaced with some pale-skinned robotic freak?!

_Unbelievable_! This - this _doll_ piloting _her_ Unit Two?! Who did these people think they were?! And _incapacitated_ - she wasn't going to be _incapacitated_! What the hell did they think -

_A voice from the past: "she's still incapacitated." Soft, in German. One of the nurses, maybe. She's lying there in the hospital bed, only a few strands on red hair left, the rest burned off. Hideous blisters all over her head and neck. Just... staring at the ceiling. There's nothing in her eyes, no reason, no emotion, just a blank, a complete void. Mouth open and drooling, where once there had been words, so many words, brilliant and shining and lovely beyond all else in the world..._

Oh, God.

Why did she have to think of _that_?

Why today of all days? Why _her_?...


	35. Episode 6 Part IV

Episode 6: The Alien Terror  
>Part IV: <em>Girl you just don't realize  what you do to me (ooga chaka, ooga, ooga)_

**Misato's apartment.**  
><strong>T-14 Hours, 41 Minutes<strong>

Misato strode into her apartment and almost immediately tripped on the half-disassembled stereo amplifier by the door. She caught herself on the wall, cursing, and staggered into the kitchen.

She found the room in a somewhat more chaotic state than she was used to. (Okay, not _that_ much more chaotic, but still.) Bits and pieces of electronic junk covered every available surface. At the center of the whole mess, of course, was the Doctor with his power nerd glasses, shoving wires into a device that resembled a length of pipe topped with a satellite dish. Shinji sat in the chair next to him, completely passed out and snoring, his head face-down on the kitchen table.

Misato sighed and shook her head. First things first. "None of this junk is mine, right?"

"Right." The Doctor didn't look up. "I _am_ capable of taking a hint every now and again, believe it or not."

"Good." She started to step towards the fridge, then changed her mind and went for the cabinet. Tonight felt like a bourbon night. "What do you have for me?"

"Yeah, just a sec. Lemme finish up the binding on these connections..." The Doctor picked up that blue-light-screwdriver thing of his.

There was a loud crash in the entryway, followed by a short burst of German profanity. "WHAT THE HELL - WHAT IDIOT PUT _THAT_ THERE?!"

Misato winced. "Sorry, Asuka!" she called.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Bit late for a social call, isn't it?"

"_You're_ one to talk," Misato muttered. "I'm putting her up for the night. The hotel we had her in exploded this morning."

"'Slong as you're sure she wasn't the one doing the exploding, I suppose..." The Doctor put on a cheerful grin as the red-headed girl appeared in the doorway, sullenly dragging a wheeled suitcase behind her. "Ah, _fräulein_! Good evening! Didn't have too much trouble with the welcoming committee, I trust?"

"Ehh?" Asuka looked up, puzzled. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, late-night student-teacher-guardian conference. Plus electronics expo," the Doctor added, glancing at the pile of components stacked on the table in front of him. Misato rolled her eyes and poured herself a triple shot.

Asuka eyed him. "Is that so..."

"S'all the rage in the Japanese educational system. Saves on classroom time. Not to mention, does wonders for the manufacturers."

"_Anyway_." Misato reached out and took hold of the Doctor's tie. "Asuka, make yourself at home. I'll be right back."

"Oi! Watch it! That's silk!" The Doctor said indignantly as she dragged him off into the other room.

* * *

><p>Shinji was in trouble. It had all started with him being late to school because it was raining. So he'd jumped in the Eva and ran, and just managed to make it a minute or so after first bell. But now the teachers - particularly Mr. Kolke and Professor Snape - were all angry with him because the Eva didn't count as valid quidditch equipment. He was desperately trying to convince them that there wasn't any rule against giant robots (and besides, they'd let the Doctor play with the TARDIS, hadn't they?), when he suddenly realized to his horror that the headmaster was his father, and then he was falling back back back and everything was a blur of color and light and motion and...<p>

He woke up to find himself lying on his back with his legs uncomfortably propped up on something. His head felt like someone had taken a mallet to it. He opened his eyes and found himself on the kitchen floor, his chair underneath him, its frame digging uncomfortably into his spine.

"_Guten Morgen_, princess!" Asuka peered down at him, a sharp-toothed grin on her face. She wore a yellow tank-top and a pair of Misato's sweatpants. "Time for all good children to wake up!"

"Huh? Oh, umm..." He glanced around. Okay, he was really in the apartment, not at school... "Wait... what are you doing here?"

"Now, is that anything to ask an honored guest?" She tossed her hair. "You should rejoice in your good fortune. You get to spend the night with a beautiful woman like me under your roof."

"Hey... did you push me over?" He blinked. "Wh-why would you do that?"

She turned up her nose. "You snore."

"... okay." He didn't know what else to say to that. He tried to sit up.

"Hold up, sunshine." She stepped down on his chest with one foot, her heel digging into his stomach. "I've got a few questions for you."

"Ow. Asuka, that hurts..." What was going on here? She hadn't been _this_ mean in the morning, or even back on the carrier...

"Where were you all of today?" she demanded. "And what the hell is the deal with this Doctor person? Why doesn't anyone call him by his name? I saw it on the schedule. It's John Smith."

"Um... well..."

"And why is he here now? What are he and Misato talking about?" A knowing smirk crossed her face. "Hold on... are they sleeping together?"

"What?" Shinji felt himself blush. Then he flashed back to the classroom, after they'd gotten away from the not-zombies. "Um. No. No, I really don't think so..."

"Then why would she want to talk to him? He's just a teacher." She pressed down harder with her heel.

"Um - well - the Doctor - he..." Crap. What should he say? How _much_ should he say? "Ummm... well... it's just..."

"You just can't spit it out, can you?" She took her foot off of his chest and crossed her arms. "_God_, you're useless. I just can't believe you, you know that? Is this seriously all you are? The great, legendary Third Child is just... _this_?" She motioned to all of him.

Shinji averted his eyes. "S-sorry."

"Unbelievable." Asuka shook her head. "Just unbelievable. It's like somebody's idea of a sick joke. A pathetic weakling like _you_ watching _my_ back." She snorted. "Jesus. No wonder I'm going to get my head cut off tomorrow."

Shinji propped himself up on one arm. "Wait... I thought you said you didn't believe any of that."

Her expression froze. She turned away from him. "Do you _know_ what happens to us when our Evas get hurt? If we're synchronized, we feel everything they feel. Like it was happening to our own bodies."

"Um... yeah?" Shinji raised an eyebrow. "I've been through it before, remember?"

"When it comes to critical damage to the Eva's nervous system, it gets even worse," she said, ignoring him entirely. "If you don't cut your link fast enough, the feedback fries your entire cortex. You'll end up as a brain-dead vegetable. Just a slab of living meat without a single thought in your head. Not that anyone'd be able to tell the difference in _your_ case.

"And even _if_ you manage to come back from that - and that's a really big if - you'll never be the same again. Not even close..."

Shinji hesitated. "Are you..." He took a stab in the dark. "Is this... something you're really worried about, then? Or... um?..."

She shook her head. "How could you _possibly_ be this stupid?"

* * *

><p>Glancing back into the kitchen, the Doctor narrowed his eyes.<p>

"Okay." Misato threw herself down onto one of the bean-bag cushions on the floor. "Just tell me you know _something_ about what we're dealing with."

"Oh, see, _that's_ nice. And here I thought I was on the _polite_ island." Irritated, he straightened his tie. "My day was fine, by the way, thanks. Yours?"

"Awesome," she said flatly. "I had to coordinate the largest civilian evacuation in the last decade, and my subordinates are all convinced they're fated to die tomorrow. What can you tell me about the attacks?"

All right, he _supposed_ that sounded fairly stressful. He sighed and sat down on the edge of the couch. "Orbital bombardment. Simple and nasty. Throw a rock down from orbit, let gravity take care of the rest."

"We checked for that." She rubbed her eyes. "There's nothing in orbit we can't account for. We've had every observatory on the planet checking. And even if we're somehow missing something, there'd still be some sign of the kill vehicle on infrared or radar on the way down. So why aren't we seeing anything?"

"Because the projectiles aren't just being dropped from orbit," the Doctor said. "They're being thrown back in _time_ as well."

She stared at him. "_What_?!"

"Here's how it works. In a couple of days - maybe a week - the bomber'll turn up in orbit and throw down a few practice shots. The projectiles'll vanish into the - well, let's call it a kind of hyperspace - then emerge in the past right before they hit the ground. That's why there's isotopes in each payload. When they get here, they can scan the impact sites, measure the half-lives, and use that to calibrate their targeting. Lets 'em find their mark in both space _and_ time, y'see?" He sniffed. "'s basic fourth-dimensional warfare. Not to mention, sort of a mystery novel cliché. The perfect murder weapon - the gun that hits its target before it's even fired."

Misato blinked. Then downed the glass in her hand in one gulp.

He eyed her with some concern. "Oi. Take it easy with that, Marlowe."

"After the explosion," she croaked, the blood rushing to her face. "Maya said something about radar artifacts over the sites."

"Light echoes. Images of the projectile bleeding back into normal space. Not bad, Captain. You're catching on."

"How the hell do you even defend against something like that?"

"Very, very carefully." The Doctor leaned forward. "Listen. I can take care of it. But I'm going to need something from you this time."

"What?"

"Just put Unit One somewhere where I can get to it in the morning - the original, not the one from the future. South of the city, if you can manage it. Away from any people. I'll take care of the rest from there."

Misato leaned back and ran her hands through her hair. "I don't know if I can do that," she finally said.

"Why not?"

"On the recommendation of the technical staff, our strategy tomorrow is to try and avoid the future shown in the video at all costs. So at 0400, we're loading Unit One onto a transport plane and sending it as far from the city as possible."

The Doctor grimaced. "Yeahhhh, here's the thing - how do you know that won't just contribute to that future happening anyway? Say the big attack gets through because you're down one cyborg, for instance."

"I thought of that." She put the glass down on the floor. "So that's why we'll be deploying Shinji in Unit 1B tomorrow."

He raised his eyebrows. "... huh."

She gave him a crooked smile. "Fate gave me an extra Eva. I thought I might as well make use of it."

"That's clever," the Doctor admitted. "I mean - completely wrong, red alert, could destroy two-thirds of the universe - but still. Not bad."

"Gee," she said dryly. "Thanks."

"Look, I'll tell you what - just consider me your backup plan for tomorrow." The Doctor spread his hands. "If anything goes wrong, send me a message. Shinji's got my mobile number. I'll be ready to go regardless. That's all I'm asking."

She closed her eyes. "I'll think about it."

There was a pause. The Doctor glanced back over towards the door to the kitchen and scratched the back of his head. Yeeaahh. Might not be a bad idea to check up on things in there...

"Hey." Misato opened her eyes slightly. "...'m sorry about your tie."

"Ehh." He shrugged. "There's a stain on the back of this one, anyway." He flipped up his tie and showed her the white spot up by the tag. "Not quite sure what it's from, actually. Probably either bleach or Adipose byproduct. Really, really hoping for the bleach, honestly..."

He glanced up to find that she'd dozed off. Right. Probably not the most _interesting_ topic of conversation he could've gone with...

* * *

><p>The door to the living room slid open just as Shinji pulled himself back onto his feet. The Doctor stepped through and quietly closed it behind him.<p>

Asuka turned around. "Oh, you're back," she said to the Doctor brightly. "Where's Misato?"

"Passed out," the Doctor replied. "Might as well let her have it for a time. Got the sense it's been a rough day. You all right there?" The last question was directed towards Shinji.

"Huh?" He tried to ignore the threatening look Asuka shot in his direction. "Uh. Yeah. I'm fine."

"You sure? Thought I heard a noise." The Doctor went back to the table and picked up the latest thingamajig again.

"Yeah. I just... um, tripped." Shinji picked the chair up and sat down.

"So!" Asuka said loudly as she slid into the seat across from the Doctor. "What is that, anyway?"

"Oh, this?" The Doctor gestured towards the device. "Nothing special. Just your standard manifold wave transamplification relay."

She tilted her head. "Is that... actually a thing?"

"'Course it is." The Doctor gave her a slightly baffled look, like she'd just questioned the existence of the sun. "It... takes waves and relays them. Somewhere. Also, it's manifold."

"Well, it's just I've never heard of anything like that." She tossed her hair. "And I graduated from the University of Heidelberg."

"You don't say." The Doctor flipped open a panel on the side of the pipe. "Shinji, could you hand me one of those valves?"

"Huh? Uh, right..." Shinji glanced at the pile of vacuum tubes by his hand. "Big one or small one?"

"Medium-sized, I think."

Shinji reexamined the pile. "I... don't think there _is_ a medium-sized one."

"You sure? Looks like a medium-sized gap."

Asuka's eyebrow started to twitch. "I finished in two years, you know."

"Mmh. Good on you." The Doctor tapped his fingers against the pipe. "Hmmm. Better pass me two smalls. I'll have to rig it somehow..."

Shinji handed him the vacuum tubes. Asuka sat back and crossed her arms, a sullen look on her face.

The Doctor glanced at Shinji. "So. You sleep all right, at least?"

"Ehh." Shinji waved his hand in the air. Stupid dream, though, he thought. I mean, how would you even play quidditch with an Eva?...

He looked up. Asuka and the Doctor were both staring at him.

Shinji shrank back a little from the table. "I - I just... said that out loud, didn't I."

"Are you on _drugs_?" Asuka stared at him like he was some hideous new species of insect she'd never seen before. "What does that even -"

"You'd have to put the hoops up higher," the Doctor said thoughtfully. "And it'd have to be in low gravity. Otherwise, it'd just be mecha rugby, and they've already got a league for that."

Shinji blinked. "Low gravity... so they'd float, you mean?"

"Or jump really high, maybe... wouldn't be quite the same, though, would it."

"Yeah..."

Asuka looked back and forth between them, her eyes narrowed. "You two. What is it with you..." She paused. "Wait... are you in some kind of sick pedophile thing?"

Shinji felt the color drain from his face all at once. He stared at Asuka in horror. "Wha - why would you even _SAY_ something like that?!"

"No," the Doctor said flatly. "Just... no."

"No!" Shinji shouted. "No, of course not! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Jesus," Asuka grumbled. "You don't have to yell."

"You're not going to take that personally, are you?" The Doctor looked at Shinji. "_Bit_ of an age difference there, among other issues..."

Shinji covered his face with his hands. "That's not actually helping, you know..."

Asuka sighed and tilted her head back. "Ehhh... how boring..."

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Well, if you're both going to be like _that_..." Asuka got up and yawned theatrically. "Guess I'll go wake up Misato, then..." She walked out of the room.

The Doctor watched her go, his brow furrowed. "Is she always like that?"

Shinji groaned and put his head down on the table. "I have _no_ idea."


	36. Bonus Material: BBC wire, 2005-03-19

Episode 6: The Alien Terror  
>Bonus Material: Famed neuroscientist injured in lab accident<p>

**Famed neuroscientist injured in lab accident**  
><em>BBC Eurowire, 19 March 2005<em>

Internationally-renowned neuroscientist Dr. Kyoko Zeppelin Langley-Soryu was hospitalized in Berlin late Wednesday night, German authorities reported.

According to Federal Police officials, emergency personnel were summoned to the grounds of Cybus GmbH, the private research institute headed by Dr. Langley-Soryu, after a fire was reported within one of the main laboratories. An investigation concluded that the fire was electrical in nature, originating from one of the institute's many ongoing projects.

After being recovered from the scene, the 31-year-old Tobias Vaughn Prize winner was transported to the Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, where she was admitted early Thursday morning. Hospital officials described her condition on Friday as "stable." They refused to comment on rumours that Dr. Langley-Soryu is currently in a vegetative or comatose state, citing patient confidentiality.

A well-known scientific prodigy of German-Japanese descent, Dr. Langley-Soryu is widely considered to be one of the world's leading pioneers in the fields of neurobiology, cybernetics and mind-machine interface. She married former astronaut Richard Langley in 2001. They have one daughter.


	37. Episode 6 Part V

Episode 6: The Alien Terror  
>Part V: <em>is he alive or dead?<em>

**NERV Headquarters. The Eva Cages. Inside Unit 1B**  
><strong>T-6 Hours, 53 Minutes<strong>

"Umm... Misato?" Shinji hesitated. He hadn't done anything wrong, had he? Everything _looked_ right, as far as he could tell... "It's... um. It's not moving."

* * *

><p><strong>Central Dogma<strong>

Misato glanced at Maya. "How's his sync ratio?"

"Everything's in the green, ma'am." Maya ran her eyes over the console. "As far as I can see, we should be operating normally."

"Shinji, are you sure?" Misato narrowed her eyes. "You're not just faking, are you?"

* * *

><p><strong>Unit 1B<strong>

"I'm not! I'm really not!" Shinji said desperately. Once again, he closed his eyes and tried to flex the Eva's hands. He could _feel_ them - the weird, phantom-limb presence of the gigantic body around him - but they wouldn't move. It was almost like -

It was almost like it didn't _want_ to move.

He opened his eyes and blinked.

* * *

><p><strong>Central Dogma<strong>

"Hold on." Ritsuko reached over Maya's shoulder and tapped a command into the console.

Misato looked up in surprise. _Where the hell have you been?_ she mouthed.

The other woman shook her head, as if to say _later_. "Here. Look at this." She pulled up an image of a brain onto the screen, neon-yellow highlights flashing across its surface. "This is Shinji's motor cortex. He's definitely trying to move the hands. But the Eva isn't mirroring his patterns."

"What does that mean?" Misato asked.

"I don't know." Ritsuko tucked her hands into her pocket. "We haven't seen this before. Not without a synchronization failure. And until we figure it out..."

"... Unit 1B is out of action," Misato finished. She ran her hands through her hair. _Of course_ something like this was going to happen.

She walked over to Ritsuko. Being angry could wait. "Have any options for me?" she whispered.

The scientist shook her head. "Anything I could suggest would require further research to even be workable. We just don't have the time."

Misato pinched the bridge of her nose and looked down. No time. No other options... except, of course...

Bastard, she thought. A tiny smile crept onto her face.

Ritsuko eyed her. "What?"

"Nothing," she muttered. "There must be something wrong with my brain."

"All right! Change of plans, people!" Wiping off the smile, she turned to the command deck and raised her voice. "Get in contact with the transport! Tell them to turn around and come back! They're to rendezvous with the pilot outside of the city at a point to be determined. Shinji, get out of there and get ready to move! Everyone else, let's get Units Zero and Two prepped and topside!"

* * *

><p><strong>Kannami Forest Preserve. 3 km south of Tokyo-3.<strong>  
><strong>T-3 Hours, 54 Minutes<strong>

Shinji raised his hand to block the early morning sun as the jet he'd just emerged from powered up its engines and leapt back into the sky. It was a pretty view, at least. He was standing in a clearing on a mountainside, ringed by tall trees. He could see a town a few kilometers in the distance - Yugawara, he supposed, or maybe Ito - and the ocean beyond.

He found Unit One waiting for him to the side of a small pond. Setup had obviously been pretty rushed this time around, compared to his last remote operation in Uenohara. There was no scaffolding or support crew - not even any security personnel, as far as Shinji could see. Just a single generator trailer connected to the Eva's umbilical cord, and a metal wire ladder hanging down from the entry plug.

He eyed the ladder skeptically. It stretched up at least a good ninety meters or so, but at least looked solid enough. Can't be helped, he thought. He took ahold of the first rung.

* * *

><p><strong>T-3 Hours, 40 Minutes<strong>

Shinji toggled the comm inside the flooded entry plug. "Um. Hey. It's me. I'm in. Starting automated checks."

"We read you, Unit One," Maya said through the radio. "We'll monitor you from here. Please synchronize and await further orders."

"Roger." He sat and watched as the usual lines of numbers and text began to scroll across the holographic display in front of him. That's it, he thought. Next time, I'm bringing a book.

* * *

><p><strong>T-3 Hours, 31 Minutes<strong>

He suddenly heard a loud splash from the back of the plug. He turned around.

"Well, that's a bit of a rush, innit?" The Doctor grinned as he bounced down from the entry hatch, that pipe-satellite-dish thing from the previous night tucked under his arm. "Direct oxygenation of the blood! _Love_ that. You always forget just how much effort you have to put into breathing..."

"... Doctor?"

"So this stuff - this is LCL, yeah?" He stuck out his tongue experimentally. "Let's see... amino acids, saline, electrolytes, few neurotransmitters... Huh. Wonder how they manage the sound, though. We're in a liquid. The vibrations should travel slower, but our voices're still the same. That's weird..."

Shinji tried again. "Doctor, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm here for the plan."

"What plan?"

"You know - the plan." The Doctor gave him a bewildered look. "The plan we talked about last night? I know I explained it -" He stopped short. "Oh. Wait."

"What?"

"There's a... slight chance you might've been asleep by that point." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "That's all right, though. Won't hold it against you. Brief recap, then -"

Shinji rubbed his eyes.

"- so you know that rift? The one that's above the city? Just think of it as like... a tide in the ocean. Or the crack in between the couch cushions. When it's active, it draws everything traveling through the vortex in its locality towards it. That's how I ended up here. With me so far?"

"Sort of."

"Right. So your enemies are attacking you _through_ the vortex. When the big one - the one they've been practicing for, the one that'd leave the big crater - when _that_ comes by later on today, we open up the rift. Not all the way, just a bit."

"How do we do that?"

"With this." The Doctor held up the sonic screwdriver. "Rift manipulation. New function. Threw it together on the off chance things went pear-shaped in Cardiff."

Shinji eyed the relay. "So then that is..."

"Range extender, basically. Lets me reach up a mile or so to where the rift is. So, anyway - what we do is, we open up the rift for the big one, then narrow it when it starts to come through. Like slamming a door shut in someone's face, you see? It goes bouncing off harmlessly through the vortex. _Then_ we use the excess chronon energy that generates to throw Unit One back in time to yesterday and complete the loop! Easy-peasey!... which is a phrase I really don't like the sound of, come to think of it. Remind me not to use that again.

"Got it? Any more questions? Questions are fine, love the questions."

"Um." Shinji blinked. "Just... uh... give me a second here..."

"Right, right. Go ahead and process." The Doctor put on that one long-suffering expression he used when he was clearly very impatient but trying his best not to show it.

"So... where does that video come from? The one that shows the crater and everything?"

"Oh, from me." The Doctor grinned. "Generated it in the TARDIS yesterday. That's why I'm here so early. Got to transfer the footage over and modify the black boxes. That way, it'll look just like the way you found it."

"But... wait... so where..." Shinji gave up. Maybe there were just some things he wasn't meant to understand. Good thing I made it through that third Potter book, he thought. Otherwise, I'd really be lost. "What do you need me to do?"

"Oh, nothing." The Doctor paused. "Welllll... except be ready to hit the eject button when I say. Oh, and if you could just hold onto the rift for a bit when I tell you to - keep it in place while I work with it..."

"Hold onto... how do I do that?"

"Just use that telekinetic effect the big fella here puts out." The Doctor motioned to the walls around him. "Might take some tweaking, but it should operate on the right wavelengths."

"... you mean the AT field?"

"Whatever you call it." The Doctor bent down and examined a panel on the capsule's floor. "No reason you shouldn't be able to use it as more than just a shield. Don't worry, I'll talk you through it. Shouldn't be too difficult."

"Um... okay." Sometimes, Shinji thought, you had to wonder if the Doctor even remembered there was a difference between _him_-difficult and... well, _human_-difficult (much less Shinji-difficult). Not like that was anything new...

* * *

><p><strong>T-2 Hours, 49 Minutes<strong>

Some time later, Shinji recalled the question he'd filed away in the back of his head. Well, one of the other questions, anyway. "Hey? Doctor?"

"Yeah?" He heard the Doctor's voice from somewhere behind the metal column that backed the pilot rig.

"Do you think there's any chance that the Evas might be smart? I mean, like _people_ smart?"

"Well..." The Doctor emerged from around the side of the chair, a fistful of wires in hand. "It's possible. Brain's certainly big enough. But I hope not. Really, really hope."

"Yeah." Shinji once again remembered the giant eye staring into him. "That could get scary..."

"It's more than just that. Think about it from _its_ point of view." The Doctor rested his hand against the column. "Can't move. Can't so much as twitch without a pilot. Spend most of your time being kept miles underground, away from the sun. Until they stick something cold and metal into your neck, and send you up to fight against beings like yourself..."

Shinji stared out into the distance. And it was even worse than that, wasn't it, he thought. He saw the Eva cages in his mind's eye. The massive restraints made from steel and concrete. The screams of the drills and the other tools the maintenance crews used in between missions. The sea of freezing-cold liquid they flooded the tanks with...

"Anyway." The Doctor shuddered and shook his head. "But you'd know better than me, wouldn't you? You've been inside its head. Ever get the sense there was something else in there? Something trying to talk to you, maybe?"

"Well - I mean, I don't..." Shinji tried to think back. Other than this morning, hadn't there been something else? Something during that first battle, maybe?... He only had fragments from that time, like a half-remembered nightmare, most of which he didn't want to think about. But maybe... there'd been some sort of image? Or a smell? Something unfamiliar to him. Something that maybe felt like it came from somewhere else...

The radio crackled back to life. "Shinji?" Lieutenant Hyuga asked. "We're reading your pre-flight checks as complete. Are you ready to synchronize?"

Shinji glanced at the Doctor and turned on his mike. "Right. Sorry. Just a second." He flicked off the comm again. "I have to link up with the Eva now. Could you just stay still for a few minutes? Please? - Oh. And, um, if you could think in Japanese..."

The Doctor mock-saluted, his hand held up palm-forward above his eyebrow. "Aye, aye, cap'n."

"Thanks. It'll just take a moment..." Shinji toggled through the holographic menus and selected the startup option. He heard the hydraulics whine. With a sudden jerk, the entry plug started to descend into the Eva.

* * *

><p><strong>T-2 Hours, 46 Minutes<strong>

The Doctor watched with vague interest as lights and colors danced across the inner skin of the chamber. Not a bad neural interface implementation, considering the technological level. Bit boring, mind you. He stifled a yawn and turned away...

And found the Ninth standing right behind him. Oh, for the love of - "Scram," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "I'm busy."

His previous incarnation crossed his arms. "I've got just one thing to say to you."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Promise?"

"You're..." The Ninth seemed to deflate a little. "You're... doing all right."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. _This_ was new.

"By the kid, anyway." The Ninth looked away. "You're doing exactly what I woulda done. More or less."

"Well, I... yeah, of course." The Doctor glanced to the side as the walls faded into an image of the outside world. An Evangelion-eye view, as it were. "I'm doing what you _did_. What we've - what _I've_ always done. Screw something up, find something to fix. Story of my life, really."

Off the the side, the Evangelion experimentally flexed its arms. "All reports green, Unit One," that one young, official-sounding voice said through the radio. "Please switch to low-power mode and stand by for further orders."

"Roger." Shinji switched off the microphone.

"So, all sorted, then?" The Doctor asked.

Shinji turned to him. "Uh, Doctor? One more question..."

"Yeah?"

Shinji raised his hand and pointed at the Ninth.

"... who's that?"

* * *

><p><em>Author's notes<em>

_3/8/2014 - To the handful of readers in the Ukraine and Russia: have been meaning to say - stay safe, friends._


	38. Episode 6 Part VI

Episode 6: The Alien Terror  
>Part VI: <em>has he thoughts within his head?<em> (gemara kiddushin 29a)

**Inside Unit One.**  
><strong>T-2 Hours, 47 Minutes<strong>

"No, seriously. Who is he? And, um, how did he get in here?"

It was the first time Shinji had ever seen the Doctor completely and utterly dumbfounded. He looked back and forth between Shinji and the plug's latest occupant - a middle-aged man, slightly balding, with a leather jacket and fairly large ears. "Wh-_what_," he sputtered.

The third man looked, if anything, just as amazed. "You can see me?" he asked in a strange accent.

"Um. Yes?..."

The man grinned. "_Fantastic!_"

"_What_," the Doctor repeated again. "Wh - wait. Oh. Oh, no. No no no no no. Don't you _dare_. Don't you - _YAAAHRGGKKKKK!_" He seized his head and doubled over, as if struck by a sudden-onset migraine.

The next thing Shinji knew, he was surrounded by people. He found his hand being seized and shaken eagerly by a short, large-nosed man with a clownish haircut. "So this is the latest recruit, eh? Delighted to meet you, dear boy! Simply delighted!"

Shinji desperately tried to peer through the crowd. "Uh... Doctor?"

"Oh, don't mind Victorious over there." The tall, white-haired gentleman in his line of sight sniffed. "He'll be fine. And for heaven's sake, all of you, give the poor child some space. He looks close to seizure."

"Hmmm. Not much to look at, is he?" An elderly man peered down at Shinji, leaning on a gnarled old cane. "Still, I suppose it _could_ be worse. At least he lacks Chatterton's arrogance..."

"Oi, don't listen to the old buzzard." Mr. Big Ears snatched Shinji's hand away from the clown and clasped it. "You're doing great, kid. Trust me. You're gonna be brilliant by the time all this is done."

"All the same," drawled an odd-looking fellow in a wide-brimmed hat and a very long scarf, "you cannot deny the girls show quite a bit more promise. The captain. The angel. Even the ginger, provided she has an actual soul in there somewhere."

"Well, of course _you'd_ say that, you egotistical old degenerate!" snapped a curly-haired man in a hideous, multicolored coat. "Just can't _wait_ to break out the old leather bikini, can you?"

"Oh, good grief -"

"Right, that's _IT!_" The Doctor roared from the back of the plug, his tone suggesting a not-insignificant level of pain. "ALL of you, BACK INSIDE! NOW!"

"Spoilsport," sniffed a pale man wearing a fez.

"I SAID _NOW!_"

And, just like that, the crowd vanished. The two of them were alone in the entry plug once more.

Shinji stared at the Doctor. "Wh-what the hell was _that_?!"

"That was _impossible_!" The Doctor stood up straight, his eyes wide. "_Completely_ impossible! There's no way that anything could - unless..." He turned and looked at Shinji. Then he dropped his hands and hid them behind his back. "Shinji - how many fingers am I holding up?"

"What?"

"It's important! Just guess! How many fingers?!"

"Um - three! No, wait, now four." An image flashed into Shinji's head. "Um, three - or two if you don't count your thumb as a finger."

The Doctor held up his right hand, two fingers and the thumb extended. "Right. So... low-level psychic abilities, then. Exacerbated by the neural link. Probably doesn't add up to much outside of the tank - maybe some basic empathy. Like wosshername, the woman on _Star Trek_ with the - anyway..."

Shinji's jaw dropped. "Wait - you mean, _me_?"

"Fits, doesn't it? Explains why the paper doesn't work on you." The Doctor rubbed his head. "Urgh - but it _still_ doesn't add up. There are _layers_ of defenses between you and those memories. My brain woulda _burnt itself out_ before anything could reach them, much less by accident..."

"Doctor, will you _please_ just tell me what happened? I mean - who were all those people?"

The Doctor groaned. "Ohhh, fine. Guess I can't just let that go by, can I..." He looked up at Shinji, suddenly looking very tired. "It's like this. When I - when my _species_ suffers a mortal injury, something that'd kill us, we've got this trick. We don't die. We _regenerate_. Grow a whole new body from scratch. New face, new everything. Same memories and mind, though."

"So those men...?"

"They were me, basically. My past selves. Or mental projections of them, anyway."

Shinji sat back in his chair. "... Huh."

The Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose. "Think I need some air... some _actual_ air. Can I still get out of this thing?"

"Um, I think so." Shinji thumbed through the control menus and retracted the spinal armor that covered the end of the entry plug. "Should be an emergency hatch in the back..."

"Yeah. Cheers... still have to rig the sensors out there, anyway..." The Doctor retreated, kneading his temples.

* * *

><p><strong>Outside Unit One.<strong>  
><strong>T-2 Hours, 4 Minutes<strong>

The Doctor stood on Unit One's shoulder, screwdriver pointed at a particularly stubborn accelerometer. He felt the familiar pressure behind him - or, perhaps, in the back of his head. "Maybe I didn't make myself clear," he growled. "But I've had _quite enough_ of you lot for one day."

"Don't you take that tone with _me_, young man," the First - the original, the one who Promised - said sharply. "And let's not beat around the bush, hm? You must've made the obvious connections by now."

"Well, considering that I'm talking to myself here - mmh, yeah, I'd say the chances are _pretty good!_"

"So, then!" the First snapped. "You are fully aware that what just happened had nothing to do with the boy's abilities. It was the machine, of course - this _Evangelion_ creature."

"Yeah, I got that, thanks."

"And for it to pierce our defenses so easily, it must be an extraordinarily potent telepath, _at least_ on the same level as our own people, if not _even greater_!" The First slammed his cane down for emphasis. "Who knows what it might glean from us the longer we hang about, hm? What _secrets_ it might learn."

The Doctor sighed. "I'm just gonna have to be on my guard from here on out. It's only until I close the loop."

The First chuckled humorlessly. "Oh, yes, and that will solve _everything_, will it? And what of the information we learned in the dome? How will you deign to repair _that_?"

The Doctor leaned forward, his hands resting on the neck plates. "There's nothing I can do about it now," he finally said.

"Do you deny that our interference has made things incomparably _worse_ for these people?"

"I'm saying the damage is done!" The Doctor slammed his hand against the armor. His shoulders sagged. "It's... it's done, and now I'm on damage control. Because I'm _finished_ letting other people pay the price for my mistakes, you understand? Not again. Not _ever._"

"And if you're merely compounding the same error?"

"Yeah, well... story of my life." The Doctor suddenly swung around and stared the First in the eye. "And _speaking_ of which - let's talk about what _you've_ missed, shall we? Haven't you noticed that none of the others are fighting me on staying here at this point? Not even the dandy."

"What of it?"

"Haven't you wondered why that is?" The Doctor jabbed the screwdriver towards his predecessor. "It's because _none_ of us went as cold as you did towards the end. Not _once_." The First tried to say something. The Doctor cut him off. "And I know! I remember! _Reasons!_ But do what all the rest have done. Take how Shinji's been treated by the people in charge. Project that out. What do you think this world's gonna be like if they get their way? How much more do you need to see?"

The First stepped back and took hold of his suit's lapels. "Men have arisen time and again from worse circumstances. One cannot predict what will be forged by observing the flames."

"Yeah, well. Just look at what's right in front of you. Then tell me you believe that in both hearts." The Doctor turned back to the accelerometer. "They keep throwing him in a tank full of liquid. But nobody thought to teach him how to swim."

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit One.<strong>  
><strong>T-1 Hour, 32 Minutes<strong>

Out of the corner of his eye, Shinji saw a familiar figure slip back into the entry plug. "Are you finished out there, Doctor?" he asked. "It's just - if we stay open like this, someone's probably going to notice..."

"I'm not the Doctor."

"Wait, what?" Shinji turned around. The person behind him looked... nearly exactly like the Doctor, actually. Except he seemed... _smaller_, somehow, and sadder. And his suit was different - a tweed jacket and a bow tie, instead of the usual brown silk and Windsor knot. "Okay... so... if you're not the Doctor, who are you?"

"John Smith."

Shinji blinked. "I thought you said that wasn't your real name."

"It isn't. But it was mine."

Shinji gave him a blank stare.

"I suppose... you could think of me as a kind of mask that he wore at one point. A disguise so real, he forgot it was a disguise." The man crossed to the pilot's chair. He looked Shinji over briefly. "Young. Very young. You have a long way to go. But all the same... I think I would have been proud to have counted you as a student."

Shinji looked away. "... th-thank you."

"There's something you need to know. Something about the Doctor."

"What?"

"That he doesn't quite think like us," John Smith said quietly. "He tries. But he misses things that a human would see in a heartbeat. Things that he's far too old to remember. Things he's spent far too long trying to forget."

"Like what?"

"Before all of this is done, he's going to have to do something terrible. And he won't even realize it until it's far too late."

Shinji stared at him. "What do you mean? Do what?"

The emergency hatch slammed shut. Shinji whirled around. "All set!" The Doctor dusted off his brown jacket. He seemed to have regained his usual cheer, or was at least affecting a convincing simulation. "Best button us back up. It's just about time."

Shinji sat back in his chair. Smith was gone. There was no sign he'd ever been there.

"Oi, did you hear me?" The Doctor must've caught a glimpse of the expression on Shinji's face. "You all right over there?"

"Um. Yeah." Shinji shook his head and hit the switch.


	39. Episode 6 Part VII

Episode 6: The Alien Terror  
>Part VII: <em>now the time is here<em>

**NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma**  
><strong>T-5 Minutes<strong>

"Time, ma'am," Lieutenant Hyuga said.

"Right." Misato turned to the main display. "Ladies, start your engines."

* * *

><p><strong>Unit Two. Tokyo-3.<strong>  
><strong>T-4 Minutes, 50 Seconds<strong>

Christ, _finally_, Asuka thought. She felt the ground tremble as both AT fields manifested. Units Two and Zero stood in the middle of the deserted city, looking up.

"We've positioned you at the exact center of the explosion as it appeared in the video," Misato said over the comm. "Between the two of you, you should be able to handle anything. Just remember, you're the only thing standing between us and whatever's coming."

"No problem." Asuka put a smile on her face. Perfect, she thought. No stupid Shinji to get in her way. (Well, okay, she did have Ms. Freakazoid to deal with - but there was no way that dull little girl could keep up with _her_, right?) And the fate of the entire world in her hands. Just like it was always meant to be. Just like she'd been _born_ to do.

So why was it still so hard to keep that image of herself in a hospital bed, drooling and dead-eyed, out of her mind...?

She cracked her Eva's knuckles. Come on already, she thought. Just give me something to hit.

* * *

><p><strong>Unit One<strong>  
><strong>T-4 Minutes, 40 Seconds<strong>

"Right. Once again from the top. Just imagine yourself as a net - no, wait, that's rubbish. Forget I said that. You're not a net. You're not even nettish." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "Ooh! I know! Imagine you're a pair of chopsticks! - Bit stereotypical, I know, sorry, but it's better than being a spork."

"Um. Okay."

"So you're chopsticks. And up above you in the sky, there's this great big slippery goldfish swimming all over the place. All you need to do is reach out and grab it."

Shinji opened his eyes. "The hell kind of festival game is _that_?"

"A really difficult one." The Doctor pointed the screwdriver up towards the ceiling. "Don't worry. Mechanical goldfish only. And they've all signed waivers. Now _concentrate_. The rift's right above us."

Shinji closed his eyes. Be the chopsticks, he thought. Be the chopsticks.

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma<strong>  
><strong>T-3 Minutes, 2 Seconds<strong>

Lieutenant Hyuga pushed his glasses back. "Ma'am, if this doesn't work out, just wanted to say -"

"Don't even bother, Makoto." Misato smiled. "We're all going to be fine."

Oh, God, she thought. Please, _please_ let that have sounded convincing.

* * *

><p><strong>Unit One<strong>  
><strong>T-2 Minutes, 30 Seconds<strong>

"That's good! You're doing it! I can see the field interactions!" The Doctor grinned. "Now just aim a _bit_ more to the left..."

Screw it, Shinji thought. He imagined a great big pair of invisible hands - or maybe wings - growing out from the Eva's head and out into the sky. _Accio_ transdimensional rift.

Okay, he couldn't be doing this right. No way it was that simple -

He felt something _click_, in an indefinable way that was simultaneously between his ears and up in the sky above. It wasn't painful, but it wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling either. It... _itched_, somehow. It _weighed_ on him.

"Aww, _brilliant!_" The Doctor clapped him on the shoulder. "Well done! Just hold it there - lemme _reel_ 'er in..."

* * *

><p><strong>Unit Two<strong>  
><strong>T-60 Seconds<strong>

One minute, Asuka thought. She clutched the controls tightly in her hands. Come on, you bastards. Bring it.

* * *

><p><strong>Unit One<strong>  
><strong>T-45 Seconds<strong>

"Okay, okay," the Doctor muttered. He held the screwdriver against the bottom of the relay, the satellite dish whirling around and around. "Wave variance good... neutron flow, check... bit more power, and..."

In his mind's eye, Shinji could feel the object in his mental grasp grow wider and float closer. As far as he could tell, the rift seemed to be a wobbly mess of a sphere, constantly flexing and distorting its shape at random. He could barely keep ahold of the thing.

"Hohyes, there you are." The Doctor glanced at the clear part of the screwdriver. "Think we've got it... just a bit more, then we'll slam the door..."

Shinji felt the rift grow larger. He redoubled his grip.

Actually, a goldfish _was_ a pretty good metaphor for the thing... he'd have to mention that to the Doctor later...

"Yep, here it comes... c'mon, close up, close up..." The Doctor slapped the side of the pipe. "Stupid feedback... don't give me that..."

The rift started to shake within Shinji's imaginary palms. It _jittered_ back and forth. It _trembled_. "Um, Doctor?..."

"Almost got it... almost..."

A sudden audible _crack_ rang out within the capsule, accompanied by a brief flash of light.

Shinji turned around. "Doctor? What was that?"

"What." The Doctor stared at the screwdriver in shock. He pressed the button. The blue light flickered once, then died. He struck it against the palm of his hand several times to no effect. "_What_."

He looked up. His eyes met Shinji's.

The Doctor swallowed. "Um."

Oh, God, Shinji thought.

_Oh, God!_ He flung himself back around. Back to a shield, he thought in a blind panic. Back to a shield back to a shield full power _back to a shield_ -

Everything went white. Again.


	40. Episode 6 Part VIII

Episode 6: The Alien Terror  
>Part VIII: All In The Balance<p>

**NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma**  
><strong>T-0 Seconds<strong>

"Report!" Misato yelled over the screams of every single alarm and klaxon they had in the control room.

"Angel detected!" Lieutenant Hyuga typed furiously into his console. "Blood type blue confirmed!"

"Do Asuka and Rei have it?!"

"Negative!" The lieutenant looked up at her, his eyes wide. "Enemy is above Unit One!"

"_What?!_"

* * *

><p><strong>Unit Two<strong>

Asuka shook her head as the spots faded from her eyes. "What the hell -"

She looked up.

The vast creature filled the sky. Its wings, feathered with insectoid forms, seemed to stretch across the city. At its center, an immense globe - like a massive neon eyeball, shorn free from the socket - pressed down against a thin orange shield...

... at a point that was far, far away from her.

"Oh, that is _not fair!_" she shouted.

She saw a sudden blur out of the corner of her eye as Unit Zero hurdled past her, straight towards the Angel's center. Asuka swore. She ejected the umbilical and sprinted after the other Eva.

* * *

><p><strong>Unit One<strong>

Okay, yeah. _This_ - this hurt. This hurt a lot. It felt like the mass of the entire world was pressing down on Shinji. Like he was ten years old again and back at the evacuation school and those older kids had forced him under the bench press bar in the gym and made him try to lift too much weight for laughs, only _this_ time they expected him to raise it with _his brain_ somehow, 'cause his arms just weren't _funny_ enough -

"Um," the Doctor said in a strangled whisper. "Wow."

Shinji opened his eyes just a little. He found something staring back down at him. A massive orb, patterned in nauseating colors like an eye, filled the viewscreen. He could feel that the Eva had dropped to one knee, its arms spread out, AT field flickering above it. Behind his ear, he heard the warning chime of the battery clock counting down - because _of course_ the generator truck couldn't have survived all this, that'd be too _convenient_...

"Yeah." The Doctor swallowed. "That's... a bit _bigger_ than I expected..."

"Doctor?" Shinji whispered. "Little... help?"

"Um, right... _Right!_" He heard the Doctor leap to his feet. "C'mon, think. Screwdriver's down... can't signal... maybe the radio? No... so the rift - no, no, that won't work now. _Urrrgh!_" There was a sound not unlike a man knocking his own skull against a metal column out of pure frustration.

Have to move, Shinji thought. Can't stop. Don't stop. Don't stop don't stop don't stop...

He tried to straighten the Eva's knee. Inch by painful inch, he felt Unit One start to rise...

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma<strong>

"Get me telemetry on Unit One!" Misato shouted.

"Voice comm is offline. Some kind of interference from the Angel. Switching to the LOS backup..." Lieutenant Hyuga's hands raced across the keyboard. "Got it. He's on reserve power, two minutes fifty seconds left. Based on current speed, ETA of Units Zero and Two is... three minutes, sixteen seconds!"

"They're not going to make it," Ritsuko croaked, her eyes wide.

* * *

><p><strong>Unit Two<strong>

Come on, _faster!_ Asuka thought as the buildings blurred past her. _Go faster!_

* * *

><p><strong>Unit One<strong>

"Okay, okay -" Shinji really didn't like how desperate the Doctor sounded. "If I open myself up - synchronize to the telepathic field in here - I could..."

He caught a glimpse of motion on the viewscreen. Shinji willed his eyes all the way open. "Um. Doctor?..."

There was... _something_ descending towards them from the Angel. A skeletal figure, growing out from the surface of the pupil. Bone mask. Black as night. Impossibly long arms. It pressed its spindly fingers down through the AT field, the barrier slowly giving way...

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma<strong>

"Captain!" Maya shouted. "Reading a massive temperature increase within the Angel! Some kind of energy buildup!"

* * *

><p><strong>Unit One<strong>

The Doctor groaned. "Awwww, no... can you feel that?"

"What now?" Shinji could see the Angel's core. The red sphere hung from the edge of the Angel's iris, just past the descending figure. Maybe if - if he could get ahold of his knife somehow...

"It's pulling in more power through the vortex transformer. It's trying to overload itself!"

"Meaning...?"

"Meaning boom. Very big boom!"

The fingers were almost past his AT field. No time... no time for the knife...

He had to... he had to...

_Please_, Shinji thought desperately. He imagined words flowing out of him and into the Eva's brain. Please, if there's really anyone in there... I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. They didn't tell me, I didn't think - I'll do whatever you want. Just _please_. Please help me. I don't want to die. I'm scared. I don't want -

The figure pressed its arms down on the Eva's hands. Shinji felt his fingers break -

* * *

><p><strong>Outside Unit One<strong>

Unseen to anyone, out of the view of its own cameras, Unit One's eyes - for the briefest of moments - glowed red.

* * *

><p><strong>Tokyo-3 City Limits<strong>

Unit Two skidded to a halt.

Asuka's jaw dropped, her eyes wide in disbelief. "N-no way..."

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma<strong>

The room fell silent. Everyone stared at the main display.

"Can they -" Misato edged towards Ritsuko. "Can they actually do that?"

"I -" Ritsuko moved her mouth wordlessly for a moment. "I... guess so."

* * *

><p><strong>Unit One<strong>

"Well. Um." The Doctor swallowed. "That was... um... _direct_..."

"Uh." Shinji stared up at the Angel, frozen in place. Almost shocked enough to forget the pain in his hands. (Almost. _Oh God ow ow aaagh it hurt why did it have to hurt so much ow they weren't even his fingers..._)

"Did you... know you could that?"

"Uh-uh."

"And now it's dissolving...? Oh, dissolving into blood. Lovely." The Doctor scratched his chin. "Do they... _always_ do that?"

"Yeah." Shinji nodded dumbly. "Um. Usually. When they don't explode."

The Angel fell apart from the wings inward, torrents of crimson flowing down and over the AT field. The perfectly smooth, perfectly flat AT field.

Except in one place.

At a single point right above the Eva's head, the field rose into a long translucent spike. Straight through the Angel's core.

"Oh, now, see? That's just unnecessary." The Doctor sniffed as the last of the Angel melted away. "Not to mention unhygienic. Could've just as easily disintegrated into its component atoms, nice and clean, but _no_, can't have tha - ooh. Oh. Oh, boy."

"What?" Shinji massaged his hand. At least the pain had dropped to pins and needles now...

"Here comes the rift." The Doctor pointed. Just beyond the fading AT field, the air seemed to shimmer and twist in an odd way. "Eject. _Hit the eject_..."

"Oh, right. Right!" Shinji dug around the side of the chair, searching for the emergency panel.

* * *

><p><strong>Unit Two<strong>

Asuka stared at the magnified image of Unit One on her viewscreen. She rocked slowly back and forth in her chair. Fluke, she told herself. Just a stupid lucky fluke. Had to be. It just had to be...

Suddenly, she saw something flare on the other Eva's back. Leaning forward, she saw the entry plug spiral away, carried by the emergency rockets. She narrowed her eyes...

... then opened them wide again as Unit One shimmered and vanished in front of her, like a mirage.

* * *

><p><strong>Unit One Entry Plug. Kannami Forest Preserve.<strong>

The screens were all dead. The only light inside the capsule came from the few dim emergency fluorescents built into the walls.

"Did it work?" Shinji asked, still enmeshed in the emergency harness.

"Think so." He heard the Doctor shift away from the column behind the pilot's seat, where he'd braced himself. "Universe didn't implode, anyway. That's usually a good sign."

"So what now?"

"Now we go home. Sound good?"

"Yeah." Shinji's head felt light, like it'd been stuffed full of air and suddenly deflated. He fumbled with the release on the harness.

"Oh." The Doctor stopped. "Wait."

"What?"

"We're... kind of on a mountainside, aren't we."

Shinji stared out into the dark. "Oh, yeah..."

"Downward slope straight to the ocean, wasn't it?"

"Think so."

"And this capsule... it's a cylinder, isn't it. Fairly cylinderish, anyway."

"Yep."

"Or cylindrical, rather. _There's_ the right word. Had it on the tip of my tongue."

"Right."

"Though I rather like the sound of cylinderish, actually. Kinda has a nice ring to it."

"Doctor..."

"Right." The Doctor took a deep breath. "Okay. Don't move. Let's just take this nice and slow..."

He heard the Doctor carefully place his foot down.

* * *

><p><strong>New Atami. 0.8 km to the east.<strong>

Shinji finished dry-heaving the last of the LCL out of his lungs. He collapsed on the stone floor beside the abandoned entry plug. "That," he said through gasping, uneven breathes, "_was a terrible plan_."

The Doctor lay a half-dozen paces away, flat on his back, his hair twisted up like he'd been given a swirlie by the world's most violent toilet. "... yeah."

It was difficult for Shinji to tell, what with the entire universe still spinning around him, but the plug seemed to have come to a rest in the midst of a coffee shop, having rolled (and bounced, and at one point _fallen_) straight through the front windows. Not that he could be entirely certain of the building's identity, given that the entire room was covered with a thick layer of Angel blood.

"Hey," the Doctor said.

"What?"

"You did good, you know. Brilliant, in fact."

Shinji lifted his head. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Huh." He smiled.

"Oh!" He sat up straight. This immediately turned out to be a mistake, as the universe responded by increasing its rotation. He tried his best to ignore it. "Doctor - the spike! The spike thing wasn't me! You were right! The Eva -"

"_Where are you?!_" Misato roared.

"Gah!" Shinji looked up. A huge image of Misato loomed over them, projected from the side of the capsule. "Misato?"

"_Shinji!_ Are you all right?"

"Uh." Shinji laid back down. "Yeah. Sure. Why not."

"I'm okay, too, thanks for asking," the Doctor grumbled.

"_You!_" Misato yelled. "What the _hell_ were you thinking?! That Angel was right on top of you! You both could've been killed!"

The Doctor looked over at Shinji. "How's she doing that, anyway?"

"'s this holophone thingy." Shinji waved his hand in the air. "All the entry plugs have 'em."

"Huh." The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "I'll have to remember that. Could be useful." Something buzzed. The Doctor pulled out the screwdriver out of his coat, its end once again glowing blue. "Oh. Oh, _of course_. _Now_ you reboot -"

Misato growled. "_Look_ - just - just get out of there. The recovery team's on its way. I have no idea how I'm going to explain all of this as is."

"All right, all right..." The Doctor groaned and lurched up onto his feet. "I'll explain later. Really. Things didn't _quite_ go - yeah."

"You'd _better._" Misato slammed down her phone and vanished.

"Right, then..." The Doctor stumbled off across the bloodstained floor.

"Hey," Shinji raised his head again.

"What?"

"Thanks for the goldfish."

"... yeah."

Shinji lay his head back and shut his eyes. The world kept on spinning.


	41. Episode 6 Part IX

Episode 6: The Alien Terror  
>Part IX: <em>Isn't this where-<em>

**NERV Headquarters. Pilot Ready Room.**

All things considered, Shinji felt fairly content. Sure, he was still in his plug suit - the back of which was covered in Angel blood - and they wouldn't let him take a shower until the doctors had examined him further. But at least he'd made it back to the book he'd stashed in his locker before the mission.

After a chapter or two - give or take a paragraph - it dawned on him that he was being watched.

Slowly, he raised his eyes from the book. Asuka stood by the opposite wall, her arms crossed. She stared at him, her eyes narrowed, a deep scowl on her face.

This... this probably wasn't good. It felt like she was... _studying_ him, maybe. Sizing him up. She didn't want to beat on him again, did she? Mentally, he started to plan possible escape routes. "Um," he said. "Is... is something wrong?"

She snorted and shook her head. "Fluke," she muttered.

"Uh... sorry?..."

She walked towards him. Shinji tensed. But she didn't lift a finger. She just shoved past him, checking him aside with her shoulder, and stomped out the door at the other end of the room.

Shinji stared after her. Maybe... maybe the Doctor had a point about that psychology textbook...

* * *

><p><strong>New Atami<strong>

The recovery helicopter had long since come and gone. The decontamination teams had yet to deploy here. For the moment, the town remained a vivid color of red, the blood slowly drying to a muddy brown under the midday sun.

In a crimson pool behind the counter in the coffee shop, something moved.

* * *

><p><strong>Misato's apartment. Several days later.<strong>

"So that's it, then?" The Doctor watched as a black sphere floated over the Earth on the laptop's screen. Occasionally, a missile or two would streak in and explode harmlessly on contact.

"Looks like." Misato stood leaning against the kitchen wall. The captain seemed much calmer than when the Doctor had last seen her, thank whatever powers might be. "One of our satellites recorded this footage last night. Thing just appeared in orbit over the Indian Ocean. Strolled through a volley or two of N2 mines, then vanished."

"Mmh. Told you." The Doctor leaned closer towards the screen.

She shook her head. "Here's what I don't get - it _must've_ seen that the city was still there. It knew that it was going to fail. So why didn't it abort the attack?"

"Because it couldn't." The Doctor absentmindedly pushed the specs further up his nose. "That's the downside with this sort of tactic. Once you've committed to it, your fate is set. No backing out. Otherwise, you're going against the physical laws of the universe. And that's never gonna end well."

"... Huh."

"Annnddd... yep, see. There it goes." On the screen, the black sphere suddenly dove towards the Earth. It faded into nothingness just as it hit the atmosphere. The Doctor leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes.

"So," Misato said, her eyes narrowing slightly. "How'd you know my original plan wasn't going to work? Did you do something to sabotage Unit One before it got sent back?"

"Nah." The Doctor waved his hand dismissively. "Didn't have to. Figured something like that was gonna happen."

"How?"

"Experience. That's the thing about changing time." The Doctor stared out into the distance. "If you're not careful how you do it, it fights back..."

"Someday," Misato said, "you're really going to have to tell me how it is you know all of this."

"Mmh." The video ended. The Doctor took off his glasses and sighed. "There's something else, though. Something that's missing from this picture. Why are they coming _here_? Here specifically? Why this city?"

The captain nodded. "I've been asking myself that same question for months."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Your superiors haven't said anything to you?"

"Only that intelligence indicates that Headquarters is the enemy's highest priority target, and that I should plan accordingly. I think Ritsuko knows more. But I haven't been able to get it out of her."

"There has to be something they _want_ here. Something they _need_." The Doctor ran his hands through his hair. "Wouldn't make sense otherwise. Using the rift feedback to mess with my sonic like they did - that doesn't just take smarts. That takes _clever_. Way too much clever to attack the _only_ place on the planet that's protected, over and over, without some kind of reason.

"Clever, powerful and team players. That makes for the worst kind of enemies. Every time..."

"Wait, team?" Misato blinked. "What makes you think the Angels are working together? I mean, sure, it's possible, but we've never seen them operate as anything but individuals."

"Oh, come on. Bit obvious, isn't it?" The Doctor pointed at the laptop's screen. "This thing was _built_ to be a suicide bomber. To literally dive into planets _with its face_. Not a whole lot of point to it unless there's someone else out there who can finish your fight. Or be inspired by your death."

Misato tilted her head. "Unless you're desperate, maybe. Or don't see a point in living."

"Well, yeah, I suppose..." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "But even then... it all comes back to _here_. Why? What's this place hiding?..."

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters - Office of Dr. Ritsuko Akagi<strong>

"It more or less went exactly the way you said it would," Ritsuko said into the phone. "I faked getting a call and left him alone in the lab. He had everything fixed within ten minutes. He might have damaged the sample in the process, though. I'm still waiting on the final results from the microscopy team..."

"That's fine," Commander Ikari said on the other end of the line. "What was your personal impression of him?"

"Well, he's definitely eccentric..." She took a pull from her cigarette. "Not like that's exactly unheard of in my field. Fairly quick on the uptake, too. Seemed like he expected to find the sample, or something like it, before I even showed it to him."

"Mmh. Anything else?"

"Your son seems to have formed a real attachment to him." She brushed back her hair with her free hand. "Followed him around like a puppy dog the entire time. It was kind of cute, honestly."

"Mmh."

She stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray. "So how long are you planning to let him and Captain Katsuragi run around like this? You know what'll happen if word gets back to the committee."

"Let me worry about that. I intend to address the situation personally."

"When?"

"As soon as I get back."

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters. The Eva Cages. Inside Unit One (formerly 1B).<strong>

The Evangelion flexed its right hand. Shinji stared out at it from his seat in the entry plug. His own hand twitched.

"How's everything feel, Shinji?" Misato asked through the comm.

"Oh. Uh. Fine." He looked down at his hands. "Everything... feels fine."

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma<strong>

"All systems check out green, ma'am," Maya said from her console.

"Great." Misato turned to the viewscreen. "We can finally forget about this whole 'Unit 1B' nonsense."

* * *

><p><strong>Unit One<strong>

"Hey, Misato?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah?"

"Could I - is there any chance I could take the Eva outside at some point? ... Like, for a walk?"

"Well... I guess..." Misato scratched her head. "There's the Eva Proving Ground in the Geofront, at least. And we should still have some money in the training budget to cover the operating cost..."

"Oh. Okay."

"What brought this up?"

"Oh... nothing, really." Shinji tried to look nonchalant. "Just... returning a favor."

He flexed both right hands again.


	42. Omake: just another brick (joke)

Episode 6: The Alien Terror  
>Omake: <em>just another brick (joke) in the wall<em>

**Inside the TARDIS. Several weeks later.**

"Hey... wait a second..." Shinji looked up from the book he was reading. "The Wall of Jericho _fell?!_"

"Hmm?" The Doctor glanced back as he fished a volume of Chaucer out of the pool with the cleaning net. "Oh, yeah. 'Course it did. Not my fault, by the way."

Shinji looked down at the book. "... huh."

Not being able to think of anything else to do, he picked it back up and turned the page.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Notes<em>

_Jeez. Three years in, and I finally get around to explaining regeneration in-story for the Eva fans. That took longer than expected. Let's just leave it at that._

_Something I've been curious about - I've been noticing that the deleted scenes focusing on Asuka seem to have been getting a lot of hits proportionally. Is someone out there linking to them from somewhere or something? I've just been wondering._

_Part of the title of Part IV - Gemara Kiddushin 29a - refers to a particular section of the Talmud. To save anyone who cares to follow up on an obscure reference in a fanfic the trouble, here's the relevant line: "We thus learnt [here] what our Rabbis taught: The father is bound in respect of his son, to [initiate him into the covenant], redeem, teach him Torah, take a wife for him, and teach him a craft. Some say, to teach him to swim too."_

_The other titles come from the lyrics to Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" and Pink Floyd's "The Wall." All except "All In The Balance," from the Series 4 Specials soundtrack, which I really should add to the playlist at some point if I can find a good place for it._

_Continuity porn for Eva fans: In case this wasn't clear, Episode 8 of the anime ("Asuka Strikes") still took place as scheduled in between Episodes 5 and 6 of this story. Everything more or less happened the same way, including the Gaghiel attack... with the exception that Misato wound up getting a lot less crap from the UN command staff, given that she showed up looking less like a marketing executive and more like a prizefighter having a __**really**__ bad day._

_Plus, there's the above, of course. I've just always wanted to see that particular penny drop..._

_Yet more continuity porn for the Who fans: John Smith, of course, comes to us care of the episodes "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood." The sonic screwdriver's ability to act as a mini-rift manipulator is an extrapolation of mine, given that the Doctor was able to use the same to open and shut the Cracks in Time in "The Eleventh Hour." (Sealing the Cracks, according to Russell T. Davies, also closed up the Cardiff rift, so there seems to be a relation there.) And, also as described in "The Eleventh Hour," the TARDIS swimming pool is indeed in the library at this point in time. A thought which probably makes every librarian in the world collectively wince. (The Doctor must avoid rot and water damage with Science somehow. Nano-sealant, maybe. Let's not question it too much.)_

_Re: "Que dirais français? Quel est donc ce patois?" - that would be Google Translate. Sorry. I was aiming for "What about French?" with my half-remembered lessons from what feels like a thousand years ago. Should've known better. Changed it out for something more basic._


	43. Prequel to Episode 7

Prequel to Episode 7

**The TARDIS. Late September 2015.**

The Doctor had made a terrible mistake. The truth had swept down upon him in the middle of the night. It was easily fixed, thank whatever powers might be - but until he acted, nothing was safe. It all came down to him. The future of humanity - and perhaps even the safety of all of space and time, in _every_ universe - hung in the balance.

Which left him with just one little dilemma, really: he couldn't for the life of him remember what the problem was.

He padded into the console room, wrapped in the old bathrobe Jackie had given him that one Christmas. He yawned and scratched the back of his head. What the hell had it been? It'd seemed fairly important when he'd thought of it. He remembered that much. He really needed to start carrying a notepad or something around with him...

He drifted around the controls, idly flipping through the sensors. Did he need to vent the thermal buffers? Or oscillate the gravitic anomaliser? Maybe it had something to do with the helmic regulator?...

That was as far as he got before he tripped over Shinji.

The boy immediately woke up with a start and sat up from his spot on the floor. The Doctor caught himself on the console's edge and stumbled back.

Okay, well, on the one hand, mystery solved, at least, the Doctor thought. Obviously, he'd forgotten to lock the door last night. On the other hand... "Shinji?"

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" The boy wriggled out of the blankets he was wrapped in and prostrated himself. He wore his usual school uniform, albeit with the hazmat suit tied around his neck like a superhero cape. He also had a duffel bag by his side. "Please forgive my intrusion! It's just - I came in late, and I tried looking for you but you weren't in any of the usual rooms, and you told me not to go into any of the dark sections, so I -"

"It's okay, Shinji! It's okay! Breathe!" The Doctor held up his hands. The boy took a deep breath. "Just - what are you doing here?"

"Um - well." Shinji stood up. "It's just - Misato - she decided to room with Asuka instead of me. I didn't know where else to go, so I -"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "She just kicked you out onto the _street_?"

The boy looked away. "I - I guess..."

"Yeah, that... really doesn't sound like her, actually." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "Did the captain tell you this herself?"

"No. Asuka did. She said -" Shinji stopped in mid-sentence. He hung his head. "... oh."

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters. Corridor BA34.<strong>

"She did _what?_" Misato pressed her head against the vending machine glass. "Oh, God. Who am I kidding. Of course she did."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," the Doctor said through her cell phone. "False alarm, Shinji! Just Miss Soryu thinking she's clever, I suppose..."

"Tell him I'm sorry." Misato rubbed her eyes. The elevator just down the hallway dinged. "I got pulled into a surprise debriefing with the Instrumentality Committee last night. I just got out an hour ago. I was planning to be there when she moved in..."

"Wait - what do you mean, _moved in?_ Are you seriously -"

The elevator door opened. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone step out -

Oh, crap. _Him._

She leapt behind the vending machine. "Just - hold on a second, okay?" she whispered into the phone. "There's this awkward situation I'm trying to avoid."

* * *

><p><strong>The TARDIS<strong>

"You - wha - all right..." The Doctor put his hand over the receiver and looked back over at Shinji. "No."

The boy spread his arms. "Well - I just thought - since you have the space..."

"I said no," the Doctor said firmly. "You can't stay in the TARDIS."

"But -"

"It's not safe! Half of the rooms're powered down. I can't have you wandering about when I'm not here."

"I won't!" Shinji pleaded. "I really won't! I promise!"

"Okay, I'm back," Misato said through the phone. "He's gone."

"Right." The Doctor held up a finger. "Where was I... right. The _fräulein_ living with you and Shinji? Are you serious?"

"Well, she needed a place to stay..."

"But why with _you_? Don't you both have enough on your plates?"

* * *

><p><strong>Corridor BA34<strong>

"Look..." Misato examined her reflection in the vending machine glass. Crap. Just as she'd expected, her makeup was a mess. And the bags under her eyes made her look like some old hag. She ran her hands through her hair, trying to salvage the situation as best she could. "I really think this might be good for both of them, you know? They both need to work on their communication and interpersonal skills. Especially if they're going to work together. And honestly, I think there's a lot of things they can learn from each other."

"And...?"

She sighed. "Okay. Maybe I'm just hoping he'll be a good influence on her."

* * *

><p><strong>The TARDIS<strong>

"You wouldn't have to make me a new room or anything, you know," Shinji said. "I'd be fine with staying in Donna's old room... she wouldn't mind that, right?"

The back of the Doctor's right hand suddenly felt itchy. What was up with that? He had the one scar there, sure, but that'd healed up _ages_ ago. "She really doesn't strike me as the type to _get_ influenced. Or accept influence. She's sort of _influence-proof._"

"Or I could stay in Captain Jack's, I guess..." Shinji crossed his arms. "I mean, if that's more convenient or something..."

"This really sounds like a bad idea to you?" Misato asked. "You're not just being all Mr. Know-It-All?"

"I think it sounds like a revival of _Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf_ with giant robots in."

"... actually, can I take back that last part?" Shinji shivered a little. "That place kind of freaks me out."

The Doctor covered the receiver again. "Good! It should! And the answer's still no." He went back to Misato. "You really can't see the risks here?"

"What do you mean?"

"C'mon," the Doctor said. "Two psychologically-damaged teenagers - sorry." Shinji shrugged. "Two psychologically-damaged teenagers under the same roof. Each with posttraumatic symptoms, a boatload of other issues, and 14-year-old hormones. You don't see any way this could possibly go - oh, I don't know - _hideously wrong?_"

* * *

><p><strong>Corridor BA34<strong>

"Look, I..." Misato shook her head. She was too damn tired to fight right now. "Look, what's done is done, okay? Let's just give it a shot and see what happens. If it doesn't work out, I'll fix it, all right?" The Doctor sighed. "Main thing is - I should be leaving the base soon. I'll come by and pick up Shinji on the way back. Where do you live, anyway?"

The Doctor hesitated. "Ehhhh, yeah, tell you what... 's probably just easier for me to drop him off in a few hours."

"Why?" She smirked. "Afraid to let me see your apartment?"

"Well..."

"C'mon. It can't be any more of a mess than mine." She grinned. The Doc - _this_ guy, actually feeling self-conscious about something? This was _adorable._ "What, is it just really small or something?"

"You... _could_... say that..."

"Yeah, yeah. Betcha the place I had in college was even worse." She glanced down the hallway. She saw Kaji - he wasn't looking in her direction, good - behind the glass panel down the hallway with... Wait, was that Ritsuko? Was he _putting his arms around her?!_...

"Listen, let me call you back," she growled. "There's someone I need to strangle."

"Err - _literally_ strangle, or -"

She hung up.

* * *

><p><strong>The TARDIS<strong>

The Doctor put down the cell phone and looked up. "How did I end up as the voice of reason here?" he asked all of creation in general. "I _hate_ being the voice of reason."

"So... I really can't stay here?" Shinji asked hesitantly.

"Nothing personal. I just don't _do_ the whole houseguest thing these days." The Doctor crossed his arms. "Last person who tried that on me was Janis Joplin. Took me _weeks_ to get her out."

"Oh. Okay. So... um, how'd you manage that?"

"I... don't really remember, actually." The Doctor scratched his chin. "To be honest, I've been a little worried she's still down there somewhere." He turned to Shinji. "But see, that's exactly my point! You could be devoured by a feral blues musician from the nineteen-sixties! You think that's something I want on my conscience?"

Shinji looked away, a strange expression on his face.

Oh. Oh, wait. The Doctor knew that look. That was his wounded-but-trying-to-be-stoic-'cause-_culture_ expression. Bloody hell. Of course the boy was going to take this as a personal rejection, what with his history. Nice one, Doctor. He scratched the back of his head. It really did feel like accidentally stepping on an overeager puppy sometimes...

"Still," the Doctor said, softening his tone a bit. "Two female roommates. Wonder what your friends will think of that."

Shinji snorted and shook his head. "Misato's such a pain, though. And Asuka - it's like she's _always_ mad at me. All the time. And I don't even know what I did wrong."

"Nothing. That'd be my guess, anyway. Rule one of dealing with people - it's not always about you."

The boy unfolded his arms. "What do you mean?"

"Like, well..." The Doctor hesitated. Then, much to his own surprise, said, "Maybe... the truth is... I'm really just not ready to take on passengers again. Long-term, actually-living-on-board passengers, I mean. After the way things turned out with Donna and the rest..."

Shinji looked at him with obvious concern. "What happened?"

Right. And that was enough honesty for one day. _More_ than enough. Time to change the subject. "Story for another time, maybe. Anyway, tell you what - why don't I power up the arcade for a few hours? Haven't been down there in a while, personally speaking."

Shinji tilted his head. "Can I try the 4D pinball machine this time?"

The Doctor sighed. "Fine. Just stay away from the multiball, will you? It works on a time loop, and I think the local spacetime has had quite enough of _that_ for a while..."

Shinji gave him a small smile and ran down the stairs. The Doctor pocketed his cell phone and followed the boy.

A hush fell over the empty console room.

Deep in the heart of the TARDIS, the deep, booming chime of the cloister bell rang out. The lights in the room turned red, then mauve.

The Doctor rushed back in. "Zeiton crystals," he muttered as he set about preventing the supernova-level explosion that would consume the planet in roughly eighteen seconds' time. "Was gonna be my next guess, zeiton crystals..."

* * *

><p><em>Author's Notes<em>

_So before I start in on the next episode, there's something I really need to get out of the way - I want to choose a new title for this fic. Back when this started, I just picked "Shinji and the Doctor" (an attempt to play off of "Vincent and the Doctor") out of thin air, so I could focus on writing the story and not get paralyzed by the little details. But as time's gone on, it's bugged me more and more._

_Anywho, I'd really like your input - yes, you personally, you the one who's reading this right now - on the decision. I've put up an online poll here (replace the dashes with . to get the right address): easypolls - net/poll - html?p=53260933e4b07c9e253afea1. I'd appreciate you taking a quick look. Don't spend too much time agonizing over it. Just let me know which one sounds best to you._

_Edit: okay, some trouble accessing the poll. So let's try this instead, same formula as before: preview - tinyurl - com/shinjidoctortitlepoll._

_Edit again: link is now on my profile. Thanks for the suggestion, PsyckoSama._


	44. Bonus Material: Report - Ikari, Shinji

Bonus Material: Evaluation Report - Ikari, Shinji

**MARDUK EVALUATION REPORT  
>PILOT CANDIDATE: IKARI, SHINJI<strong>

**This report is Classified SPECIAL ACCESS ONLY/GEVURAH. Report all unauthorized access.**

**Executive Summary**

Date of Birth: 2001 June 6  
>Age: 14<br>Mother: IKARI, YUI (deceased)  
>Father: IKARI, GENDO (formerly ROKUBUNGI)<p>

Candidate Ikari has resided at the Shimokita Special Evacuation School, Aomori Prefecture for the past eleven years. Grades and teacher reports reveal a mediocre student with no remarkable attributes or relevant aptitudes. While generally docile and polite, the candidate shows a high degree of introversion and has few (if any) friends. Physical fitness reports are below the norm for his age group, though not to a significant degree.

In short, Candidate Ikari suffers from above-average depression, low self-esteem, marked deficits in social functioning, and unimpressive coping skills - all symptoms consistent with (and more than likely stemming from) extensive parental neglect. These factors suggest the candidate will have a poor response to combat stress, with a below-average prognosis in the face of repeated exposure.

However, Candidate Ikari has no obvious disabilities that would exclude him from service. The committee therefore finds the candidate acceptable for combat duty, albeit strictly in the context of a short-term, expendable asset.

**ADDITIONAL NOTE:**  
>Candidate Ikari is the son of Executive Commander Gendo Ikari (NERVCOM). To preclude any appearance of a conflict of interest, Commander Ikari was exempted from the evaluation committee. He was asked to review the preliminary draft of this report. He had no comments nor objections regarding its content.<p>

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_Some extra expository material I came up with for the Wattpad version of Episode 1, in the hopes of giving Who fans unfamiliar with Evangelion a bit more information about what's up with Shinji. (And yeah, sorry, sorry. I know, this isn't the real update you were hoping for. I'm still working on Episode 7. Just figured I'd throw this up here anyway, for completeness' sake if nothing else.)_

_This does give me the chance to report on the results of the poll. The overwhelming majority of you wanted me to keep the title the same. Otherwise, of the possibilities I mentioned, "The Evangelion Error" seemed to be most popular. So I've decided to keep the title the same here and on Teaspoon, but use "Evangelion Error" for the Wattpad version. (Which, yes, means that this story now appears under THREE different titles. Yay indecision!)_

_Thanks again for your help with the poll. And sorry for the tease. Hopefully, the new cover image makes up for it somewhat. (Original art by Adan Garcia aka Epsthian-Artist on DeviantArt. Used with permission. Hunt down his profile at some point. He's brilliant.)_


	45. Bonus Material: Shinji's First Day

Bonus Material: Shinji's First Day

**Email received 7 September 2015 12:29 UTC  
>To: Commander, Security and Intelligence Department, NERV-02, Groom Lake, Nevada, USA<strong>

Major:

We got him. "Him" meaning the security breach I told you about yesterday. Perp was Roman Groom, age 17; he was a contractor with one of the IT companies we use in Reno. I'll have the autopsy and forensics reports to you as soon as they're ready.

As a preview, here's a text file we found on the perp's laptop. From context, looks like he was trying to pull an Ellsberg on us. I'll get in touch with the FBI, see if we can narrow down the journalist he was squealing to.

- Stone

% ATTACHMENT BEGINS %

Hey, man -

Couldn't get into the raw video files before they made me and cut the link. But I managed to export a transcript from the Magi perceptual logs. Best I could do. Security over there is... impressive, to say the least. Much better than I would've expected.

So in case you don't know - the MAGI clusters NERV uses consist of three networked AIs working in parallel. The expert systems at NERV HQ are called Melchior, Balthasar, and Caspar (seriously, when did the *Japanese* get into the whole Sunday School thing?). Just think of these logs as a record of their raw thoughts. They're kinda trippy, but you get the general gist of things.

So, yeah, same as usual, get the word out to the Times, save the world, yadda yadda yadda. Doing this s*** to kids is one thing, man (and yeah, both of the pilots mentioned here have got to be fourteen or younger). But the guy's own son? Seriously, who the f*** does something like that?

R

P.S. also, all the names are written surname, then first name. Cuz Japan.

= LOG FILE START =

MAGI LOG TRANSCRIPT EXPORT  
>[[ LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ]]<br>[[ HIGHLIGHT KEY EVENTS: ON ]]

# ENTITIES REFERENCED IN TRANSCRIPT:  
># [PILOT CANDIDATE] IKARI SHINJI<br># [CAPTAIN] KATSURAGI MISATO  
># [DR.] AKAGI RITSUKO<br># [COMMANDER] IKARI GENDO  
># [PILOT] AYANAMI REI<br># [GROUP] EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESPONSE TEAM 4  
># [VEHICLE] EVANGELION UNIT-01<br># [VEHICLE] HOSPITAL BED 19951004  
># [LOCATION] EVANGELION UNIT-01 STORAGE CELL<br># [LOCATION] EVANGELION UNIT-01 STORAGE CELL MONITOR ROOM  
># [ENEMY UNIT] ANGEL 03 "SACHIEL"<p>

# TRANSCRIPT BEGINS #

**[00:00]: [CAPTAIN] KATSURAGI MISATO, [DR.] AKAGI RITSUKO, and [CANDIDATE] IKARI SHINJI enter location "Evangelion Unit-01 Storage Cell".**

**[00:06]: [CANDIDATE] IKARI is introducted to vehicle EVANGELION UNIT-01. Emotional reaction: agitation/fear.**

+ MELCHIOR COMMENT: Height of EVANGELION UNIT-01: 108 m (354.33 feet). Height of [CANDIDATE] IKARI: 148 cm (4 feet 10.27 inches). Proportional ratio: 72.97 to 1. [[tag: context]]

+ BALTHASAR COMMENT: _"sed cultores fortissimos habet, et urbes grandes atque muratas"_ [[tag: free-association]]

+ CASPAR COMMENT: Emotional status - 13% fear (subject: ANGEL 03), 21% apathy, 52% disdain (subject: [DR.] AKAGI RITSUKO - choice of hair color [blonde])

**[00:21]: [COMMANDER] IKARI GENDO initiates communication with [CANDIDATE] IKARI from location "Evangelion Unit-01 Storage Cell Monitor Room".**

+ MELCHIOR: Previous comments by [CAPTAIN] KATSURAGI indicate this is the first time [COMMANDER] IKARI and [CANDIDATE] IKARI have seen or spoken to each other in approximately three years. [[tag: context]]

+ BALTHASAR: _"Tolle filium tuum unigenitum, Isaac, et vade in terram visionis, atque ibi offeres eum in holocaustum super unum montium quem monstravero tibi."_ [[tag: free-association]]

+ CASPAR: ERROR THROWN - EmotionStatusReportGeneratorException - override: emotional status regarding Commander Gendo Ikari is not to be logged.

**[00:32]: [COMMANDER] IKARI informs [CAPTAIN] KATSURAGI that vehicle EVANGELION UNIT-01 is to be deployed immediately.**

[00:39]: [CAPTAIN] KATSURAGI expresses concern regarding readiness of available strategic assets.

**[01:05]: [DR.] AKAGI RITSUKO informs [CANDIDATE] IKARI that he is to pilot vehicle EVANGELION UNIT-01.**

**[01:16]: [COMMANDER] IKARI confirms that [CANDIDATE] IKARI is to pilot vehicle EVANGELION UNIT-01 into battle, effectively immediately.**

**[01:22]: [CANDIDATE] IKARI becomes agitated.**

**[01:38]: [CANDIDATE] IKARI expresses doubt regarding personal ability to fulfill pilot duties; stresses lack of training as factor.**

+ MELCHIOR: [CANDIDATE] IKARI current simulator time logged - 0 days 0 hours 0 minutes [[tag: context]]

+ CASPAR: Emotional status - 61% pity (subject: [CANDIDATE] IKARI), 22% irritation (subject: [CANDIDATE] IKARI), 24% fear (subject: ANGEL 03)

[01:51]: [COMMANDER] IKARI requests immediate decision from [CANDIDATE] IKARI regarding availability for pilot duty.

+ BALTHASAR: _"Tulit quoque ligna holocausti, et imposuit super Isaac filium suum."_ [[tag: free-association]]

**[02:05]: Small-scale geological activity disturbance from attack by enemy unit ANGEL 03. Location "Evangelion Unit-01 Storage Cell" experiences tremors.**

+ CASPAR: Emotional status - 41% fear (subject: ANGEL 03)

[02:13]: [DR.] AKAGI RITSUKO informs CANDIDATE IKARI of deteroriating strategic situation regarding enemy unit ANGEL 03.

**[02:20]: [CAPTAIN] KATSURAGI orders CANDIDATE IKARI to board vehicle EVANGELION UNIT-01.**

**[02:22]: [CANDIDATE] IKARI refuses.**

[02:28]: [CAPTAIN] KATSURAGI speaks calmly to [CANDIDATE] IKARI.

[02:39]: [CANDIDATE] IKARI refuses again; reaffirms inability to fulfill pilot duties.

+ CASPAR: Emotional status - 49% fear (subject: ANGEL 03), 46% irritation (subject: [CANDIDATE] IKARI)

[02:48]: [COMMANDER] IKARI requests communication link with [PILOT] AYANAMI REI.

**[02:59]: [COMMANDER] IKARI orders [PILOT] AYANAMI to report to location "Evangelion Unit-01 Storage Cell".**

[03:08]: [DR.] AKAGI RITSUKO orders vehicle EVANGELION UNIT-01 reconfigured for [PILOT] AYANAMI.

**[04:13]: [PILOT] AYANAMI arrives at location "Evangelion Unit-01 Storage Cell" via vehicle HOSPITAL BED 19951004, escorted by operational group EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESPONSE TEAM 4.**

+ MELCHIOR: [PILOT] AYANAMI - Last reported medical status: CONDITION CRITICAL [[tag: context]]

+ CASPAR: ERROR THROWN - EmotionStatusReportGeneratorException - override: emotional status regarding Commander Gendo Ikari is not to be logged.

[04:36]: Operational group EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESPONSE TEAM 4 exits location "Evangelion Unit-01 Storage Cell".

[04:38]: [PILOT] AYANAMI attempts to exit vehicle HOSPITAL BED 19951004. Fails.

+ CASPAR: Emotional status - 52% pity (subject: [PILOT] AYANAMI), 58% hatred (subject: [PILOT] AYANAMI)

**[04:51]: Enemy unit ANGEL 03 attacks. Geofront breached.**

+ CASPAR: Emotional status - 81% fear (subject: ANGEL 03)

+ BALTHASAR: _"Vocavit autem angelus Domini Abraham secundo de cælo"_ [[tag: free-association]]

**[04:53]: Attack shockwave reaches location "Evangelion Unit-01 Storage Cell". Vehicle HOSPITAL BED 19951004 is damaged.**

**[04:55]: [PILOT] AYANAMI is ejected from vehicle HOSPITAL BED 19951004 onto floor.**

+ CASPAR: Emotional status - 47% hatred (subject: [PILOT] AYANAMI), 72% pity (subject: [PILOT] AYANAMI), 22% schadenfreude (subject: [PILOT] AYANAMI)

**[05:04]: [CANDIDATE] IKARI attempts to assist [PILOT] AYANAMI; requests current medical status.**

+ CASPAR: Emotional status - 62% sympathy (subject: [CANDIDATE] IKARI), 78% pity (subject: [CANDIDATE] IKARI), 89% fear (subject: ANGEL 03)

**[05:08]: [PILOT] AYANAMI expresses pain non-verbally. Medical status update for [PILOT] AYANAMI: wounds reopened.**

+ BALTHASAR: _"Et mortua est in civitate Arbee, quæ est Hebron, in terra Chanaan."_ [[tag: free-association]]

**[05:17]: [CANDIDATE] IKARI observes [PILOT] AYANAMI's current medical status.**

**[05:26]: [CANDIDATE] IKARI volunteers to pilot vehicle EVANGELION UNIT-01.**

+ BALTHASAR: _"Extenditque manum, et arripuit gladium, ut immolaret filium suum."_ [[tag: free-association]]

# TRANSCRIPT ENDS #

= LOG FILE END =

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_So another extra for the Wattpad version of Episode 1. The intention here was to recap a certain key scene within Evangelion's first episode for the Who fans. I was trying to find an interesting way to do it, short of just retelling that part of the story from scratch, so I tried describing it from the perspective of the MAGI. It... yeah, I don't think it quite works, personally. Oh, well. Hopefully the Eva fans will find the in-jokes amusing... presuming the transcript section makes any sense to them, that is._


	46. Bonus Material: A Brief Introduction

Bonus Material: A Brief Introduction to the Doctor

**A Brief Introduction to the Doctor**  
><strong>Prepared by Dr. Arnold Blackberg, Senior Analyst, the Asylum<strong>

So if you're reading this, congratulations! You've finally made it to a high enough level in the UNIT and/or American military-industrial complex hierarchy that they finally start telling you the _real_ secrets - or at least some of them. Maybe. (Either that, or we've had another Wikileak and you're just some random Internet neckbeard. If you see this, Julie, no, I haven't forgot about that $20 you owe me. Cough it up already, you cheap [REDACTED].)

Regardless, today's your lucky day. Today is the day you find out about the Doctor.

Who is the Doctor? He's the only reason that I'm still here to write these words today - and that you're still here to read them. That _anyone_ is still here to read anything at all.

Maybe you think this is a joke, or that I'm being overdramatic. I'm really not. It's a big, dangerous universe out there. Always has been. There are things out there in the dark that could - if they deigned to notice this little blue world in the middle of the Big Nowhere - could simply _erase_ us all in a heartbeat.

But you probably already know all this. They usually tell you the scary stuff first. You've probably already started to lose sleep, thinking about all the things out there that could - with just a _thought_ - make it so humanity never even existed.

The good news is - we have a friend.

Here come the bullet points, kiddies:

- **The Doctor is a time-and-space-traveling alien.** Members of his species are called Time Lords. (Or were - see [REDACTED]). He looks human, but he isn't. No one knows for sure how old he is, but he's lived for hundreds (if not thousands) of years. Loads of historical figures have recorded encounters with him over the years: Winston Churchill, [REDACTED], [REDACTED], Martin Luther King Jr., Elizabeth I (the so-called "Virgin Queen," heh), Ben Franklin - and, last by not least, [REDACTED]. I'm serious. It's true. The Vatican has proof.

- **He travels in a box.** It's called the TARDIS, and it appears to be a British police box (blue, not red) from 1963. Don't let that fool you. It's bigger on the inside, and it can go anywhere and anywhen. (Supposedly, the TARDIS can disguise itself as any object he wants. Evidently, the Doctor just prefers this form.)

- **He's a genius.** And was appearently even considered such among his own people, who had mental and technological capabilities beyond our wildest imagination.

- **His name is just "The Doctor."** Really. No one knows what his real name is, or if he even has one. In situations where this might arouse suspicion, he usually goes with something generic, like "John Smith."

- **He has companions.** The Doctor doesn't like to travel alone. Every now and again, he'll invite some random person he runs into to act as his assistant and traveling companion. If they accept, he'll show them the universe - past, present and future. If you ever meet one, feel free to resent them for having the chance to see things the rest of us can only dream of... though you probably won't, because they're usually (though not always) highly intelligent, impossibly hot young women. (See file photos.) [1]

- **He can change his face.** Every now and again, the Doctor will go through what he calls _regeneration_, where he'll grow a completely new face and body. We have at least ten of these "incarnations" (for lack of a better word) on file. There are subtle differences in both dress and personality among them, but for the most part, his identity seems to remain consistent.

- **He likes us.** So much so that he's saved us who-knows-how-many-times. In particular, he seems to hang around Britain a lot. We think he likes the tea.

- **But he's not always reliable.** The Doctor is first and foremost a tourist. He won't always be there to save you. Sometimes he can't, due to however the rules of time travel work. And sometimes he just doesn't want to. He seems to try to avoid seeing humanity at its worse (see, for example, the 4-5-6 Incident - you'll find it filed under How Not To Do Things If You Want the Doctor To Save Your Worthless Semi-Evolved Monkey [REDACTED]). Personally, I suspect he does this deliberately to keep us from getting dependent on him.

- **And you meet him, he probably won't like you.** Because if you're reading this, you're likely an officer in the military. Don't expect a warm reception at first. While he's worked with UNIT in the past, the Doctor at heart is kind of a hippy (albeit usually with a better dress sense). He hates violence, only uses it when he can't find any other alternative, and _really_ doesn't like guns. Militaries are kind of the polar opposite of everything he believes in. But don't take it personally. If it helps, he used to give General Lethbridge-Stewart - yep, the legendary Brig himself - attitude pretty much 24/7.

- **But you still need to listen to him.** When all's said and done, he's still one of the very few advantages we have in a very dangerous reality. One we can't afford to ignore. So check your pride and humor him. Keep calm. Be polite. Don't ask overtly stupid questions. If he gets distracted, ask the companion(s) to help keep him on track - that's practically the reason he keeps them around. And one last thing -

- **Never, ever, ****_ever_**** make the Doctor angry.** _Trust me on this._

And those are the basics. Good luck. If you ever meet the Doctor, you're going to need it. Nine times out of ten, he shows up for a reason...

[1]: Yes, even if you're a woman. And straight. Seriously. _Just see the file photos already._

The end!

(in ink in the margins:)

_Arnold - this document is completely unworkable. The Joint Chiefs will never accept this and you know it. I also find your comments regarding the Doctor's companions both unnecessary and sexist. Redo this. Now. - Carol_

_No can do, boss lady. I've got art therapy followed by a lunch date with a padded cell. Anyway, this is the __US military__ we're talking about here. They like their sexism the way they __like their coffee__... okay, forget about the coffee, I'm not sure where I was going with that._

_What I'm trying to say is, just throw in some meaningless acronyms and they'll eat it up. Now if you'll excuse me, I feel another psychotic break coming on. Hugs and kisses! - A_

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_One last bit of extra material, this time to explain a bit about the Doctor to the Eva fans. I'm not entirely sold on this one, either - it's potentially confusing, since this is a document from the Doctor's universe (where UNIT exists and the governments of the world know about him and so on), not from the Eva universe._

_That's it for that. Next thing you'll see from me is Episode 7, promised._


	47. Episode 7 Part I

Episode 7: Blackout  
>Part I: <em>I don't want to be with you<em>

**The Geofront. Under Tokyo-3. Early October 2015.**

The Doctor was being followed, of course. Three or four of your standard man-in-black types. They'd been at it for at least the past half-hour. They seemed content to keep their distance, though, at least for the moment. He wasn't about to let them worry him.

Besides, how could he possibly focus on petty little details when he was surrounded by all _this_? This _masterwork_ of twenty-first century engineering and ingenuity? He stood within an immense underground chamber, at least five kilometers in diameter. Nine hundred meters or so above him, the buildings of the city sat suspended in the midst of a vast ceiling of metal and glass. (The tensile strength required to pull that off alone! Breathtaking!) And then there were the contents of the chamber: a complete self-contained ecosystem, utilizing reflected sunlight piped down from the surface, featuring plant and animal species from all over the planet. God, he _loved_ it when humans got serious! He'd have to find out the name of the architect - send them a thank-you note or something.

For the moment, though, his attention was otherwise occupied by a rock. Or, more specifically, a _type_ of rock. He'd found a park at the very edge of the Geofront where - unless he was mistaken (and he wasn't, 'cause _Doctor_) - a bit of the chamber's interior wall had been left exposed. So this material had to be holding up the sides of the chamber _and_ the weight of the city above. It _looked_ like ordinary basalt, but it couldn't be... He sniffed the wall experimentally. He was getting this odd, tingly sort of feeling from it... what could that be about...

"Forgive me for interrupting, but I believe that fern is from an endangered species."

The Doctor glanced back at the unremarkable man sitting on a nearby park bench. Then he looked down at the plant he was standing on. _Angiopteris fokienssis._ Right.

"Quite right. Well spotted." The Doctor carefully stepped back onto the path. "Just - ah - testing the general public knowledge of botany. Never can be too careful."

"I see." The man scattered a handful of kernels from a small bag of popcorn to a small crowd of birds by his feet. Not just any old birds, either - _passenger pigeons._ Probably clone stock. _Fantastic._

"All right if I join you?" the Doctor asked.

"Please feel free."

The Doctor sat down on the other side of the bench. He had barely noticed before, but the park really did have a gorgeous view of the rest of the chamber. The big steel pyramid at the center - NERV headquarters, he supposed - glowed in the morning sun, while one of the skyscrapers above slowly shifted downward. The Doctor grinned. "Awww, _brilliant._"

"Is it?" Another kernel dropped to a waiting pigeon. "One gets used to it after a while, I'm afraid."

The Doctor glanced back at the wall. "Don't suppose you know anything about the rock over there? I've never seen anything quite like it before."

"A little." The man adjusted his glasses. "In Japanese mythology, the stone of this region was traditionally held in high regard."

"Really."

"According to legend, the native rock was blessed by Konohanasakuya-hime, the goddess of Mount Fuji, and held significant spiritual properties. If properly treated, it was said to be able to deflect arrows and stop any sword, no matter how sharp. There's still a significant trade in amulets and talismans to this day."

"You don't say." The Doctor's smile deepened. "Now isn't _that_ interesting."

"It is just a story, of course."

"Oh, of course. But stories can contain little bits and pieces of the truth, can't they?" The Doctor stared off into the distance thoughtfully.

"I suppose so."

A digital watch beeped. The man glanced down at his wrist and tipped the remaining popcorn onto the ground. "Forgive me, but I have an appointment I must attend to. I didn't catch your name, Mr. -"

"Oh. Smith. Doctor John Smith."

"Dr. Smith." The man rose and bowed. "Please enjoy the rest of your day."

"And you."

The man walked off. The Doctor waited until he went around a bend in the path, then pulled out the sonic and pointed it at the wall.

* * *

><p>He upped his pace as he rounded the corner. That'd taken longer than he'd anticipated. The old snakes didn't like to be kept waiting.<p>

He found a member of the security detail by the park exit. "Please dispose of this before we leave," he said, handing over the popcorn bag. "Is my car ready?"

"Yes, sir," the agent said. "Right this way, Commander Ikari."

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Station. The Geofront. The next day.<strong>

"- and, oh, great! There's a spot on _this_ sleeve too! And I can't just replace this, you know. I got it in _Paris!_ Hey, are you even listening?!"

Shinji didn't really have the words to describe just how sick he was of Asuka. That, or maybe his irritation had reached the point where it was beyond human language. He was sick of her presence. Sick of her perfume, which in a few short days had permeated the apartment to the point that every room would smell like strawberries for at least the next decade. Sick of the - well, okay, maybe not sick of the sight of her. But the _sound_ - her _voice?_ God. Every syllable she spoke felt like an ice pick ripping through the back of his head.

Yet still he soldiered on. It couldn't be helped. "Sorry, Asuka," he said for what must have been the thousandth time that morning.

"Oh, you don't even mean that!" she snapped. "You just say that automatically! What are you, a man or an apology machine? Take some responsibility, dammit!"

He narrowed his eyes. "Y-you were the one who put that top in with the rest of the wash, you know."

"How was I supposed to know you were doing whites?!"

Maybe by the fact that everything else in the machine was white, he thought. Why couldn't anything ever be her fault? Not even once? He gestured to the red-striped top she had on - which, to his eyes, looked almost exactly the same as it had before. "At least that thing is still wearable. Half of my shirts got stained pink."

"Yeah, well..." She tossed her hair. "Color suits you, Dorothy."

Then there was this whole thing with her calling him girls' names. He really didn't see how that was necessary. Was she even trying to get along with him at all? He shook his head and sighed.

The subway train pulled into the station. They were the only ones in the compartment. This was the military-only train, the one you needed to have a special pass to even get on. He forgot what they were even scheduled to do at Headquarters today - sync test, maybe, or more training. The doors started to open, then stopped partway. Weird. They didn't usually do that.

They slipped through the doors and walked through the deserted station. Traffic tended to be light at this point in the morning. Asuka snorted as they rounded the corner. "Oh, great. There's little Miss Perfect."

Rei stood beside the large gates at the end of the hall, on the other side of which were the incredibly long escalators that descended into Central Dogma. She turned as they approached.

"Were you waiting for us, Rei?" Shinji asked in surprise. A gesture like that seemed unusually social of her.

She shook her head. "My card isn't working."

Asuka sighed theatrically. "And the mighty Wondergirl falls in battle to a humble card reader. Step aside, princess." She pushed past Rei and swiped her badge through the slot. Nothing happened. She tried it twice more, her face slowly turning red.

Shinji glanced around. The screens and holo-displays - usually full of schedules and announcements - were dead. The only light in the station came through the windows from the Geofront outside. The train stood still at the platform, its doors frozen in place. "... I think the power's out."

"What are you, stupid?" Asuka gave him an irritated glare. "This is NERV! Even the backup generators have backups."

He shrugged and spread his hands towards the rest of the station. "Yeah... well..."

Rei suddenly held up her hand. She tilted her head to the side.

Shinji eyed her. "What is it?"

"Something's coming," she said.

A loud _bang_ suddenly echoed through the walls. Shinji felt the hairs on the back of his neck start to rise. This all was starting to feel uncomfortably familiar...

"It's probably just a fan or something," Asuka said. She looked up at the ceiling nervously.

Shinji took a step back from the direction of the sound. "Um... h-how - how can it be a fan if the power's out?"

A light fell out of the ceiling and crashed to the ground three meters away from Shinji. Something thumped against a metal surface above them. Whatever it was, it seemed to be right over their heads...


	48. Episode 7 Part II

Episode 7: Blackout  
>Part II: Field Trip<p>

**NERV Station**

Then a vent opened in the ceiling and the Doctor tumbled out onto the ground. Shinji sighed and rubbed his eyes. Really should have seen that coming, he thought.

The Doctor, lying flat on his back, stared up at the vent. "Below you," he muttered. "Why would they put the access _below_ you? That makes no sense."

"... Doctor?" Asuka asked. Shinji walked over and offered his hand.

"Oh, hullo there! Brilliant! It's Shinji and the Pilotettes!" The Doctor put on a daffy grin as he took Shinji's arm. "Which is a halfway decent band name, actually. Bit old school. I'm thinking maybe a B-52s cover act. You should remember that one." Shinji smirked and helped him to his feet.

"But - wait - what are you doing here?" Asuka demanded, a bewildered expression on her face. "And _how?_ This is a restricted area!"

"Ohhhh, you know..." The Doctor groaned as he leaned forward to crack his back. "Just wandering a bit. Came in through the service entrance, I think."

"There is no service entrance," Rei stated.

"'Course there is. There's always a service entrance. How else would anyone get served? But anyway..." The Doctor pulled out the screwdriver with a flourish and held the clear part to his ear. "Yep. Still there."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "What is?"

"Picked up this signal just a moment ago. Here -" The Doctor pulled an object out of his coat pocket, pointed the screwdriver at it, then passed it to Shinji. "Wasn't there until a few minutes ago. Powerful, whatever it is. Could probably hear it from orbit."

Shinji glanced down at his hands. He held a small windup radio. He turned the crank a few times. A series of short, static-like bursts came out of the speaker for a moment or so, then stopped. "What is it?"

"No idea." The Doctor listened to the screwdriver again. "I'd think it was an automated emergency beacon or something, but there's no content. No code or pattern. It's just... noise. Really loud noise."

"So... like techno?"

The Doctor grinned. "That's good! See? There you go! Toldja you could be funny."

Shinji half-smiled. "Yeah... I've been trying to work that one in for a while."

"Look, if you two ladies could finish up flirting -" Asuka crossed her arms, clearly irritated. "We kind of have a serious problem here!"

"Problem? Nah. 'Snot a problem." The Doctor shook his head. "Just a mysterious signal. Love a good mysterious signal."

"That's not what I -"

"Should be able to triangulate it if we go a bit further." The Doctor grinned again. "So! Time waits for no one! _Allons-y!_"

With that, the Doctor strolled off down the hall. Shinji fell into step behind him. Rei grabbed ahold of his sleeve as he passed. "We should check in with Headquarters as soon as possible," she said quietly.

"Ehhhhh..." Shinji rubbed the back of his neck. On the one hand, that _was_ what Misato most likely would have said. But on the other... "... yeah, trust me. This is the safest thing we could do right now." He flashed back to the soldier with the shotgun the other day. "Probably."

Rei tilted her head. When Shinji turned to walk after the Doctor, she followed.

"Hey! Come on! Shouldn't we at least vote on this?!" Asuka stomped her foot on the ground. "Or appoint a leader or something...?" She growled and went after the others.

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters. Central Dogma. Command Center.<strong>

By the glare of a nearby work light, Misato saw the cover to one of the maintenance tunnels towards the back of the operations room come loose. With a grunt, Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki pushed the grate aside and crawled out. "Can I help you, sir?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Just give me a moment." Fuyutsuki waved her off, rubbing his wrist. Pretty spry for a man his age, Misato thought. "What's the situation, Captain?"

"The main power supply just went offline." The work light flickered. She glanced at it. "We're unable to connect to the backup generators. Phones and internal communications are down. I've sent crews to investigate all of them."

"What about the tertiary generators?"

"Active, but just barely." She offered her hand and pulled the vice-commander to his feet. "We're receiving less than two percent capacity. I've diverted all of it to the MAGI and life support."

"Forget about life support for the moment." Fuyutsuki rubbed his back. "The air should hold out for a while. Put it towards Central Dogma security instead."

"Yes, sir." On the other side of the room, the work light abruptly died, plunging the command center into darkness. Misato watched as one or two panicked voices rushed towards the lamp, flashlights in hand. Mentally, she sighed. _Of course_ something like this happened the first week Fuyutsuki and the commander were back in town.

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Station<strong>

"So why'd they make the doors lock when the power goes out?" The Doctor scratched his chin as they walked past rows of inaccessible doors. "Not very safe now, issit? Say there's a fire, for instance. Has the fire marshal been through this place? Well, if Japan has fire marshals, that is. They do must. Wouldn't make sense not to..."

Asuka caught Shinji by the arm. "Does he ever shut up?" she hissed in his ear.

"Maybe the fire marshal wasn't authorized. Big military project like this, though, you'd figure they'd have to have _somebody_ on staff..."

"Y-you get used to it after a while." Shinji smiled. "I think it's kind of comforting, actually."

Asuka snorted and shook her head. "Ga-aaayyy..."

"Secret black-ops fire marshal..." The Doctor tilted his head. "Wonder what _that_ job advert looked like..."

"Stop it. I told you, it's not like that."

"Sure, sure. You keep telling yourself that, Florence."

Shinji looked away, his face turning red. "Shut up..."

"Oh, lighten up, you big baby. I'm just teasing you. Take yourself a little less seriously, will you?"

"Ooh. There we go. That looks promising..." The Doctor abruptly dashed down the hallway.

When they caught up to him, he was standing beside a pair of heavy steel doors with a manual crank set into the wall beside it. A sign across the top read: EMERGENCY ACCESS. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.

The Doctor glanced at the pilots. "Sorry - Rei, would you mind?"

Rei narrowed her eyes. "Pilot Soryu has not been cleared for that information."

Asuka crossed her arms. "What do you mean?! _What_ information?"

"Well, 'snot like she won't hear about it at the school eventually."

Rei hesitated. Then she let out a barely audible sigh and stepped forward.

"Not very manly, is it?" Asuka muttered to Shinji. "Making a _girl_ do the heavy work. How is she even supposed to -"

Rei pushed her thumbs into the thin groove between the doors. With little sign of effort, she tore them apart - the crank in the wall spinning like a top - and stepped through. The Doctor nodded, looking ever so slightly impressed, and followed.

Shinji looked back at Asuka. She stood frozen in place, her eyes wide, her jaw slack. "Wha... h-how..." She put her hand on the edge of the door where Rei had bent the metal. "... but how...?"

Shinji shrugged. "She's Wondergirl."

He stepped past her into the dark tunnel beyond the doors.

* * *

><p><strong>Midtown Manga and Imports. Tokyo-3.<strong>

The lights flickered off, leaving just the distant sunlight through the shop windows to light the stacks. Makoto - better known as Lieutenant Hyuga of NERV when he didn't have the morning off - looked up from the latest Shonen Jump and sighed.

He wandered out of the shelves to the checkout line. "Skip the power bill again this month, Barton?"

The fat American expatriate behind the counter shook his head. "'Snot just us, dude. Entire street's out. See for yourself." He pulled back a Spider-Man poster plastered onto the front window by its corner.

"Seriously?" Makoto craned his neck. "That doesn't seem right..."

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters. Supplementary Motor Area. Service Corridors.<strong>

Asuka was mad again. As per usual, Shinji had no idea why. Rei seemed to have something to do with it, though. When the pale girl happened to pause at the bottom of one of the many flights of stairs they'd been descending down, Asuka recoiled as if from an attack. "Stay away from me, freak," she growled.

At least the quiet was nice. Ahead of him, Shinji saw the Doctor stop and run the screwdriver over the walls in each direction. He sidled up. "So what happened to that signal? I thought you were going to track it or something."

"Oh, yeah, 'course. Already did." The Doctor glanced at him. "What, didn't I say?"

"Not so much."

"Oh. Well. Found it."

"So where is it?" Shinji asked.

"Down."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Just... down?"

"Just down."

"Okay." Shinji looked back. The girls had stopped for a rest, Asuka pointedly standing as far away from the other pilot as possible. Rei didn't seem to notice. "How far down?"

"_There_ we are." The Doctor glanced at the screwdriver's clear bit and grinned. "That should do nicely. This way, come on!" He took off at a run. Shinji glanced back at the girls and followed.

At least it was a short run this time. Two or three corners later, Shinji turned to see the Doctor pull aside a metal grille and motion him through. "In here!" He rushed through the doorway, the girls at his heels.

Shinji glanced around as he caught his breath. They were in what looked like a cargo elevator. Towards the front, the Doctor pulled the latticework door closed and pointed the screwdriver at the ceiling. "I'd grab ahold of something if I were you," he said.

... oh. Oh, boy. Shinji went to the safety rail at the back of the elevator and threaded both of his arms through it. Rei noticed what he was doing and put a hand on the bar.

"Okay, enough," Asuka snapped. She crossed her arms. "This is just stupid. We can't even use this thing with the electricity out. Unless you're dumb enough to think you can run it off just your flashlight battery."

"'s a screwdriver," the Doctor said. "And nah. Too complicated."

"So where's the power gonna come from, genius?!"

"Gravity, mostly."

Asuka blinked. "Wait, wha -"

Something - or a great number of somethings - came loose above the ceiling. The elevator dropped like a rock.

* * *

><p><strong>NERV Headquarters. Terminal Dogma. 3 km below Tokyo-3.<strong>

Shinji pulled his aching arms free and slipped down onto the elevator's floor, rubbing his shoulders. Next to him, Rei calmly stood up and let go of the railing. He couldn't help but notice, though, that she'd crushed the part of the bar that'd been in her hand down to half its original size.

"Well, _that_ cleared the sinuses!" The Doctor cheerfully bounced up off the floor and cracked his neck, a massive grin on his face. "Ahh! _Loved_ the retrorockets at the end! Very posh."

On the other side of the car, Asuka clawed her way up to sitting position from the ground. Her hair was all frizzled and spread-out, in a way that reminded Shinji of a frightened cat. "ARE. YOU. _INSANE?!_" she bellowed. Her voice sounded all cracked and gravelly, probably due to all the screaming she'd been doing on the way down.

The Doctor pulled aside the elevator grille and flicked the screwdriver. "Just about on level. Brilliant! Right this way, then!" He stepped out into the corridor.

Rei glanced back at Shinji and walked out. Asuka looked at him. "Is he insane?" she asked.

Shinji stood up. "You... really shouldn't ask that."

She bared her teeth. "Oh, _what?!_ Am I not allowed to question the great Doctor now?!"

"Nah. You're just not going to like the answer."

He offered her his hand, which seemed like the thing to do. She eyed it as if he'd drooled all over it first - which he hadn't, thank you - and started to pull herself up using the wall. Oh, whatever, he thought. He shrugged and walked out.

* * *

><p><strong>Terminal Dogma. Dorsal Column Pathway.<strong>

He caught up with the Doctor about halfway down the corridor. "So that thing that just happened - wasn't that a bit dangerous?"

"Nah." The Doctor shook his head dismissively. "Had it all under control."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah. Completely. Wouldn't have -"

Something metallic screeched behind them. Turning back, they saw the empty elevator car buckle, then tear itself free from its breaks and plunge out of view. A few seconds later, a loud _crunch_ echoed up from what sounded like a significant distance below them. Asuka - who stood just outside the door, having apparently paused there to fix her hair - stuck her head out into the shaft and stared downward with her mouth open. About five paces behind them, Rei stopped and looked on curiously.

The Doctor sniffed. "Knew that was gonna happen."

Shinji smiled. "Sure."

"Oi! None of that." The Doctor started to walk again.

"None of what?"

"That look."

"What look?"

"The whole I'm-being-Passive-Aggressive-Skeppy-McSkeptical look." The Doctor turned the corner. "I may not always look the part, but I know exact - WOAHBOY."

The Doctor suddenly leapt about three or four feet back, sweeping Shinji with his arm towards the wall. In practically the same instant, a loud mechanical roar - somewhere between a jackhammer and a chainsaw - broke out around the corner. The entire top layer of the concrete bulkhead behind where the Doctor had been standing vanished, replaced by a cloud of dust, a scattering of pulverized fragments on the floor and a series of very large bullet holes.

The noise died down. They stood there for a moment, frozen.

"Was... was that a gun?" Shinji asked.

"... yeah," the Doctor said.

"So somebody's shooting at us?"

"Something, I think. But yeah."

"... huh." Shinji stared at the bullet-ridden wall. He was dimly aware that he should probably feel more upset about this development.

"It's... possible I could be taking this a bit more seriously," the Doctor admitted.

"Honestly," Shinji said out loud, still staring at the wall, "I'm just kind of surprised it didn't happen sooner."

"Could you please move?" Rei said into his ear.

"Gah!" Shinji jumped to the side. Appearently, the Doctor had swept him _into_ Rei, pinning her between him and the bulkhead. Really should've wondered why that wall felt so squishy, he thought. "S-Sorry! Sorry about that."

"Why?" she asked blankly.

"Right, let's see here..." The Doctor pulled a superball out of his coat pocket and tossed it underhand into the next hallway. Shinji heard the ball bounce a few times. The gun failed to respond. "So infrared. Or ultrasound with pattern recognition. I can work with that..." Getting down on his hands and knees, he carefully pointed the screwdriver around the corner's edge.

"Err..." That was the thing about Rei, Shinji thought. It wasn't just that she never seemed to get upset. It almost felt like she just couldn't ever see any _reason_ to get upset about anything. Well, almost anything... There was his -

"_You._"

Something in Asuka's tone immediately sent a chill down his spine. Oh, come on, Shinji thought. I'm fine with getting _shot at_, but I'm still scared of her? How does that make any sen-

The next thing he knew, she slammed him against the wall, flipped him around, and put her hands around his throat. He found himself staring into her eyes, which were now devoid of any emotion besides a bottomless hatred and an all-consuming rage. Oh. Right. So that was why. A bullet could only kill you once. Asuka would make you _suffer._

"_You're_ the reason I'm in this mess!" she snarled. Her hands clenched down. "Stuck down here with a stupid _robot_ and some kind of damn psychopath. How could you do this to me?!"

"Asuka," he wheezed lamely. "You - you're choking me -"

"_No! Really?! Ya think?!_" She pressed down harder.

"Oi! Stop that!" the Doctor snapped, turning back from the corner. "What's the matter with you? Don't they teach communication beyond the playground level at Heidelberg?"

Asuka released his neck and stepped back. Shinji gratefully sucked in a breath. "So you _were_ listening the other night," she said.

"'Course I was." The Doctor turned away.

"So why didn't you say anything?"

"I was _busy._"

Asuka crossed her arms. "With what?"

"Oh, y'know - just _saving the planet._"

"You're a _school teacher!_" she snapped. "How could you possibly save anything?"

"What, I'm not allowed to have hobbies?" The Doctor sat back and looked at his hands. "Right," he muttered. "_You've_ already taken one for the team, so..." He reached out with his left hand past the corner and waved. Shinji tensed up - but nothing happened.

"Wait... that thing you were working on..." Asuka turned and glared at Shinji. "The Angel appearing over you last week - was that _him?!_ Did that machine he was building do that?!"

Shinji couldn't help but wilt under her gaze. He shrugged helplessly and spread his hands.

She threw her head back and let out a short, bitter laugh. "Oh. _I_ see how it is..."

"We're clear, by the way, if anyone cares." The Doctor stood up and stepped out into the next hallway. "Tell you what, _fräulein._ Long as you're using your brain, riddle me this - entire base is without power. Entire city, probably. Not even the elevators work. So why does _that?_" He pointed down the other hallway. Shinji nervously glanced around the corner, and saw a fairly sizeable machine gun mounted to the ceiling halfway down the corridor. Some kind of automated sentry, he guessed.

"Well..." Asuka looked uncomfortable. "Obviously... there has to be something important down here..."

"Isn't _that_ interesting." The Doctor grinned. "Come on. We can hash it out later. Can't be much further now."

* * *

><p><strong>Nearby Miyake Island. 116 km south of Tokyo-3.<strong>

"Overhead 1, this is Lowball 3!" Lieutenant Aaron Ward (US Navy/UN Combined Pacific Fleet) had to yell in order to hear himself over the ancient helicopter's engines. "We're picking up some weird radar interference about twenty klicks south of our position! You want us to check it out?"

"Negative, Lowball," Marat, the pilot of the VTOL fighter about a thousand feet above him replied in his thick Russian accent. Or was it Ukrainian? Ward couldn't remember. "I'm on it."

On the radar, the modern jet streaked ahead. Ward sat back and sighed. _That_ was what he should've had, instead of getting stuck with a fuel-hogging 'copter a full decade older than he was. But _no_, he just had to mention to his XO that he'd trained on Sea Kings...

The young ensign in the seat next to him shouted something. It was her first time as his operations officer, and Ward honestly hadn't caught her name over the engines warming up. She was cute, though - had this kind of young Nichelle Nicols thing going on. "WHAT?!" he yelled back.

She dug out a small notepad and a pen. She scribbled something down and showed it to him: WE NEED TO GO BACK.

"WHY?!" he asked.

There was a loud burst of static through the radio headset. "- contact - vy interference," Marat said.

"Couldn't copy that, Overhead!" he shouted. "Can you repeat? Over!"

"-cal failure - eject -"

The connection went dead. The fighter disappeared from Ward's radar. What the hell...?

He felt the ensign tap his shoulder. Glancing over, he saw the pad now read (in large letters, triple underlined): SONAR.

He looked down at the data coming back from the buoys they'd dropped an hour or so back. Naturally, they'd put that monitor in the most awkward place possible. Had to turn his head away from the other instruments and everything... wait... was that... were those...

He swung the helicopter around and accelerated away as fast as the old airframe could take. Have to talk to her later, he thought. The hell was she doing, wasting time showing him the details? Was it really so hard just to tell him to _run?_


	49. Episode 7 Part III

Episode 7: Blackout  
>Part III: Mirror Mirror<p>

**Terminal Dogma. Solitary Track.**

"Now _that_ is a door." The Doctor scratched his chin. "That is a _serious_ door."

Shinji had to agree. It looked like less of a door and more like a solid metal wall, two stories tall and twice as wide. Only under close examination could one notice the nearly-invisible cracks that divided its surface into four parts. A sign off to the door's side read:

KEEP OUT  
>MAIN LCL PLANT: PRIMARY GATE<br>TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT ON SIGHT  
>VIOLATORS WILL BE LIABLE FOR PENALTIES OF UP TO 10 YEARS' IMPRISONMENT, $10000 FINE, OR BOTH<p>

"Serious door for serious people." The Doctor tapped a finger against the card reader underneath the sign. "Signal's definitely coming from inside. Looks like a hardened tungsten-steel alloy over a carbon nanotube rib structure. Not skimping on the security budget around here, are they?"

Shinji glanced over at him. "How long do you think it'll take?"

"Eh. Call it at fifteen minutes? Ten if I don't break for snacks." The Doctor kneeled down and started pulling an access panel off the wall.

Shinji wandered off further down, running his hand down the length of the door. It was perfectly reflective, like polished chrome or a mirror...

"So. How's it feel to be a fraud?"

He turned. Asuka stood behind him with her hands on her hips, the same angry glint in her eyes. But she seemed more focused now. Somehow, he found this even more alarming than when she'd been throttling him. "Um... what?"

"A fraud. As in a liar." She crossed over to him. "Ever since I got here, people keep talking about the _amazing_ Third Child. The hero of Uenohara and everything."

"They _do?_" Since when? He'd never heard anything like that...

"But it's all just been a big lie, hasn't it?" She leaned in closer to him. "You're not some big hero. You're just a pathetic little parasite, sponging off the efforts of other people. A worthless _puppet_, pretending to be a soldier."

He shifted his eyes away. "S-sorry..."

"You _disgust_ me, you know that?" she snarled. "How can you even bear to live? Don't you have any sense of shame? Or pride? How can you just -"

"Why do you feel the need to do that?" The Doctor asked. "Tear him down over and over. Don't you think he's been kicked around enough in his life?"

They turned. The Doctor eyed Asuka from his position lying beside an open maintenance duct in the wall beneath the card reader. A few paces away, Rei leaned off to the side, wordlessly staring out into space.

"Well, _obviously_ not." Asuka stuck up her nose. "Not if he's still this much of a weakling."

"Oh, so you're doing him a favor, then, is that it? Toughening him up or something."

"_Somebody_ has to," she snapped. "The way you and Misato baby him, I'm amazed he can tie his own shoes."

"I'm standing right here, you know," Shinji grumbled.

Asuka didn't even look at him. "Cram it, Betty. The grownups are talking."

The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes. "Oh, for God's sake - I've been helping him _survive_. It's not like I've been letting him have sweets before bedtime, or something."

"Well... we _did_ stop for ice cream on the way back from Uenohara," Shinji admitted, before he could stop himself.

"Eh, that's different." The Doctor waved his hand. "Save the planet, get ice cream. Fair trade."

Shinji raised his eyebrows. "Really? Promise?"

"We'll see." The Doctor scratched the scar on the back of his hand. "Trust me, you gotta watch the whole post-rescue splurging thing. Had to deal with a Sontaran battle campaign this one time. I must've gained ten stone that week..."

"Unbelievable." Asuka covered his face. "God. Hanging around with a weirdo like _you_ - it's no wonder he doesn't have any fight in him. He can't even stand up for himself, you know? He's got no spine at all."

"Yeeeaaahh, take it from someone who knows, _fräulein._" The Doctor pulled a wire from out of the back of the duct and studied it. "Just because someone doesn't _want_ to fight doesn't mean they're _bad_ at it."

"Uh-huh. Sure. So, tell me, 'Doctor'" - she raised her hands to make air quotes - "how many fights have _you_ run away from in your life?"

"Oh, can't even begin to count. Every one I could, more or less."

She sneered. "I should've know. The big coward and the coward-in-training. The weak always flock to each other."

"You don't say." The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "So - if I'm weak, would that make you strong?"

She jutted out her chin proudly. "Of course!"

"Really." He looked away thoughtfully. "Betcha I could reduce you to tears in a hundred words or less."

She tossed her hair. "Oh, please."

"Wellllll, okay, one-hundred-_eighteen_ or less," the Doctor corrected himself. "No reason to go overboard."

Asuka snorted. "Oh, what? You think I'm just gonna break down 'cause the big scary man hurts my feelings?"

"Basically, yeah."

She glared at him coldly. "All right," she snapped. "Go for it, then."

Shinji carefully edged away from her. Oh, boy...

"You sure?" the Doctor asked.

She folded her arms. "Yeah, I want to hear this. Come on. Give me your best shot."

"Well." The Doctor sat up straight and looked Asuka in the eye. "In that case..."

* * *

><p>"You can't stand Shinji because you're just like him." It took Asuka a second to realize he'd switched into German. Why? What'd he have to say that he didn't want the other two to hear? Did he think she <em>cared?<em> "He reminds you that, deep down inside - underneath all that attitude and swagger - you genuinely don't think you're worth it."

She opened her mouth to fire something back, but the Doctor cut her off. "Don't bother denying it. You think you're hiding it, but it couldn't be more obvious. I know your secret: all I have to do to hurt you is _choose not to like you._ 'Cause in your mind, every rejection and setback reaffirms the _nothing_ you really are inside. That you'll _always_ be, no matter what.

"And I'm sorry, Asuka. I really am. But I can't stand bullies. You're alone."

* * *

><p>The hallway fell silent.<p>

"That's it?" Asuka smirked. "Seriously? That's the best you've -"

Her face suddenly twisted. She clapped her palms over her mouth, a mix of confusion and disbelief in her eyes. Then she noticed - at about the same time Shinji did - her hands shaking.

"_Scheisse!_"

She turned and took off running down the hall.

"Little bit of soul there, after all..." The Doctor stared after her. "Well, that, or she's changing up tactics..."

"Wow," Shinji said. "That was... um..." He couldn't find the right word. Come on, he thought. Why do I feel sorry for her? It's _Asuka._

"Yeah, well..." The Doctor lay back down and turned to the duct. "She's a terror and all... but I wouldn't go ranking making a fourteen-year-old girl cry among my _proudest_ moments, exactly."

"Oh." Shinji looked at him. "Um."

"What?"

Shinji scratched the back of his head. "Do you... really think I'm like _her?_"

"Wait, you understood that?!" The Doctor shot upright. Then he groaned and put a hand over his face. "Ohhh, right. 'Course you did... Look, in _some_ ways, maybe. I'll explain later, all right? It's complicated."

"Okay..." It wasn't that the comparison bothered him, Shinji thought. Not really. He just really couldn't see it. At all.

"And I wouldn't go letting on that you heard that, by the way," the Doctor added. "Knowing that'll make her even worse, if anything. Her ego's bruised enough as is."

"Actually," Rei said, "I understand German as well."

The Doctor sighed and shoved his head into the duct. "Well, I tried. That's what counts - ooh. Wait. So if that holds the private key..."

He took out the screwdriver and held it against a circuit board above him. Shinji heard the whine of hydraulics. Things inside the door started to shift.

"Ha! What'd I tell you?" The Doctor grinned triumphantly. "Inside of ten minutes, even, minus distractions. And I didn't - ooh. Oh. Hold on." He stabbed his finger down on the circuit board. The sounds within the door stopped.

The Doctor ran his free hand over his face. "Oh, _brilliant._ Nice one, Doctor... perfect timing..."

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's the _fräulein._" The Doctor groaned and looked down the hallway. "We can't just leave her down here."

"... you sure?" Shinji asked darkly.

"Positive." The Doctor gestured with his chin towards the circuit board. "See the button I'm holding down? Soon as I let go, we've got sixty seconds, then the sentry guns reboot." Shinji winced. Yeah, okay, that would be taking things a little too far. "One of you'll have to go get her..."

"I can take care of it," Rei said.

"So when you say that, do you mean drag her back physically, or...?"

"If necessary."

"Yeaaaahhhh, let's call that Plan B." The Doctor looked over at Shinji.

Shinji dropped his arms. "Oh, come on. _Really?_"

"Sorry, mate. Process of elimination and all..."

"Well... couldn't I just hold down the button for you or something?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Too many moving parts here. Lots of networks and tripwires and encryption layers... I need to keep an eye on it."

Shinji narrowed his eyes. "You really don't want to have to apologize to her, do you."

"Yeah, that's not happening," the Doctor said flatly.

Shinji groaned. "Fiiiiiiiiine. You owe me, though."

"Yeah, yeah... just go find her already."

Shoving his hands in his pockets and slouching, Shinji set out down the hallway.

Halfway down the corridor, he stopped. He turned and ran back. "Wait, wait - that was in _German?!_ Why do I know German now?"

"I'll explain later! Go!"

"All right, all right..."

* * *

><p><strong>Terminal Dogma. Lateral Column Pathway.<strong>

He found her three or four corridors back through the maze - or maybe it was the other way around. As he wandered past a dark alcove in the hallway, shielded from the dim glare of the emergency lights, he heard her growl: "Don't come any closer."

He turned and held up his hands. Actually, he thought, staying out of arm's length of Asuka suited him just fine at the moment. "Okay. Sure."

"And don't say anything," she added. "Don't even think about it."

"Okay." Lacking anything better to do, he sat down on the floor.

She didn't say anything for a while. He could just barely see her inside the nook, her face in particular hidden in shadow. She didn't make a sound. He could barely even hear her breathing.

"What are _you_ even doing here, anyway?" she finally snapped. "You get bored with Robot Girl or something?"

Shinji hesitated. He had to be careful here. If he said the wrong thing, he'd just make everything worse. "He - the Doctor, I mean - he got the door open."

"So what? You think I want anything to do with that bastard?!" She slammed her fist into the wall. "Why don't you all just go off and leave me? It'll be great! You and your best friends, the freak and the pedophile! Go on! Go! You think I care?!"

Geez, he thought. It's like dealing with a wounded animal or something. "We can't do that."

"Hmph!" She snorted. "Whatever."

They sat there in silence for a moment.

When Asuka spoke next, she at least sounded a little calmer. "I'm going to destroy him for this, you know."

"Who? The Doctor?"

"No, the _other_ arrogant bastard! Who do you think, genius?!"

"Yeah, that's..." He hesitated. "That's a really bad idea."

"I don't care. I'll crush him! I'll find a way."

He tilted his head. "Um. Is that really necessary?"

"_Of course_ it is!" she snarled. "It's a matter of pride! Pride and honor! Don't you _get_ that? I thought Japanese men were supposed to be all about honor!"

"Well... kind of, I guess..." Though, really, most of what _he_ knew personally about Bushido and the like came from history class and a handful of samurai movies.

"Look. Let me break this down for you, Veronica..." She leaned forward and stuck her head out into the light, her eyes glaring into his. If her face seemed a little moist, he pretended not to notice. "This is a cruel and merciless world. If you don't pay back people a _hundred_ times when they hurt you, they'll never stop. And if you don't show them your strength every single time, they'll never respect you. That's the way it is."

"I... um..." For some reason, Shinji's eyes kept getting drawn to a stray hair that hung right over her face. "I - I don't think the Doctor meant to hurt you. He's really not like that."

She sneered and leaned back, her face vanishing back into the shadows. "Pffh! As if he could!"

If that's the case, Shinji thought, what are you doing here? He bit his tongue.

"Gah." She shook her her head. "That stupid, self-centered, self-righteous, egotistical jerk... who does he think he is, anyway? He doesn't know me. He doesn't know _anything_ about me."

Shinji kept his mouth shut. Somehow, he innately knew that any reaction he might have would be detrimental to his health.

"Hmph. _Doctor._" She tossed a bit of debris - a spare bolt or screw or something - at the wall. It pinged off. "I could've been a doctor by now."

He raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Of course!" She tossed her head. "I graduated from Heidelberg, remember? The youngest ever! There's no reason I couldn't have done med school _and_ piloted Eva. I don't care what anyone says."

"Huh." Shinji didn't know anything about that. "So why didn't you?"

"Oh... things..." She shook her head. "Things didn't work out, that's all. Faculty politics and stuff. It was stupid."

"Oh."

"So piloting's all I have left now." Within the shadows, he thought he saw her eyes flash. "Well, that's fine. I can make it work. Just watch. I'll be the greatest warrior this planet's ever seen. I'll show them all - even Doctor Psycho and the wonder-freak! I'll save the world and all their crummy little lives! Then, when I'm done here, I'll go back, ace their stupid tests, get my doctorate and finish my mother's work! I'll go down in history as the one who changed life as we know it forever!"

"Um, wow," Shinji said. "Really?" His first thought was: jeez, what is she, a mad scientist from a cartoon?

Then something clicked.

He could hear it in her voice. The same feeling he woke up with every morning and bore through every day in the pit of his heart, white-hot and painful. It was hard to describe. It wasn't quite loneliness, or the desire for friends, or the need for people, though maybe those things were all a part of it. It was a hunger for... acknowledgement. For _recognition,_ maybe. A need for someone - anyone - to notice him and actually value his existence.

He'd learned to ignore that feeling for the most part. Being noticed made you a target, and besides, whenever he'd tried, he'd just wound up annoying people more than anything else. So he'd stopped, and tried to just live with the hunger gnawing away inside him.

But Asuka - she never gave up, did she?

"Of course!" She leapt to her feet. "Just you watch, Third Child! Someday, you'll be telling your grandchildren you knew me. Well, provided you con _some_ poor woman into letting you reproduce, anyway."

"Uh-huh." Shinji barely heard her. He felt dazed, sort of like he'd been when he'd first walked into the TARDIS. Open a door. Find out it's bigger on the inside...

"But I can't do any of that stuck down _here._" She dusted herself off, then emerged from the nook, the usual cocky smile on her face. "Come on. Let's go get this over with."

"Oh. Um. Right." He got up and followed her as she marched down the hall. He stared at her back. The Doctor was right, wasn't he? They really _were_ a lot alike underneath it all...

He eventually noticed the direction they were going. "Um, Asuka... I think it might be back the other way..."

"I knew that," she said brusquely. Without missing a beat, she spun around.

* * *

><p><strong>Terminal Dogma. Solitary Track.<strong>

"Jelly baby?"

Rei looked down and stared at the candy in the Doctor's outstretched hand. He kept holding it out to her anyway. After a lengthy pause, she finally said, "No, thank you."

"Suit yourself." The Doctor popped the candy in his mouth - ooh, blackcurrant - and went back to the bag he'd placed on his chest for another. All the while, he kept his other thumb pressed down on what he'd fondly taken to calling The Button, at least inside his head. "Stumbled across an old pack of these the other day. I used to be mad for 'em."

"I see."

"So I've been meaning to ask," the Doctor said, his mouth partway full, "what's the deal with the whole Laws of Robotics thing? They couldn't actually have physically hardcoded them into you, could they?"

"No."

"Right. So it's a personal choice, then."

"Yes."

"Hm. Taking the scifi fan thing a bit far, isn't it?"

Rei hesitated for a moment. Then she asked: "When you look at me, what do you see?"

"A girl."

She stared at him with the same unreadable expression.

"Oh, all right. If you're looking for something specific..." He reached into the bag. "A _human_ girl, structurally. Albeit composed of the same kind of indeterminate matter the Angels are made up of."

She raised an eyebrow. "Impressive."

"I know." The Doctor grinned. "So the whole Asimov fixation, then...?"

"His robots are the best model I have for what I am."

"Which is?"

"I am an artificial construct," Rei said. "Shaped by man in his image, created to serve and protect his interests. That is the reason I exist. I may have flesh rather than metal, but my function is the same."

The Doctor raised his eyebrow. "Bit limiting, don't you think?"

She shrugged. "It is what I am. I look human, but I am not. If I die, I can be replaced."

"Yeah... I know the feeling." The Doctor studied a malformed green baby critically, then popped it in his mouth anyway. "All the same, though - have you considered it might be possible to view yourself from another perspective?"

She tilted her head. "Such as?"

"Welllllll - and mind you, I'm just throwing out ideas here... what about as just another person?"

She blinked. "With the exception of the Evas and a handful of genetic uplift experiments, I am the only sentient nonhuman known to exist. I am distinct from every other organism on the planet."

The Doctor chortled. "And you think you're the first teenager to believe that, do you?"

Rei looked away. "I am not human. Not really. Even if I understood how to act like one of you, to do so would be a deception."

"I didn't say _human_ - though you'd be surprised, actually. It's a lot more fun than it looks." The Doctor sorted through the bag, looking for a pink one. "I said _person._ There's a difference."

"Which is?"

"One's a species." He settled for a red and downed it. "The other's a _concept._ Meaning an individual with her own rights, wants, needs and dreams. Same as everyone else."

"I do not dream," Rei said. "Or sleep."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "All right, fine. Have it your way, Ms. Literal. Goals, then. Or _aspirations._ I've always liked that word, anyway."

"And what would my goals be? What is it that I want?"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Well. That's up to you now, isn't it?"

Rei crossed her arms. "I..." She hesitated. "I... find the idea terrifying, to be honest."

"Freedom always is, at first. Doesn't change the fact that it's yours to take." The Doctor adjusted his hold on The Button. "Just something to think about, eh?"

Rei stared out into space. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then stopped. Instead, she reached down and picked up a jelly baby. She looked it over carefully. "Do these contain animal products?"

"Don't think so. Some sort of algae stack, I want to say." The Doctor cocked his head. "Why? Are you vegan?"

"I don't like meat. Or things made from it." She put the candy in her mouth.

"So yes, then. Huh." The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "That'd explain the superpowers, I suppose..."

"Um, hey!" Shinji called. "We're back!"

They looked up to see him and Asuka approach from down the hall. She looked... less than enthused to be there. Oh, well. You could only ask for so much when it came to narcissistic rage, really.

"Brilliant! Perfect timing," the Doctor said, throwing some cheer into his voice. "Let's see what we've got, then."

He bid farewell to The Button and stood up. The door mechanisms started to grind away again. Heavy door. Could take awhile. Could be awkward.

"Don't you think for a second this means I've forgiven you," Asuka growled behind him, right on cue. "The only reason I'm here is because I always finish what I start. Clear?"

"Yeah. Crystal." The Doctor didn't turn around. The girl just didn't know when to quit, he thought. Of course she'd be the type to want the last word.

"And this isn't the kind of thing you can fix with just an apology, either. So don't even try."

"Wasn't planning on it." Problem was, so was he.

The door split into four parts and retracted into the wall.

* * *

><p><strong>LCL Plant<strong>

They stepped into a large, circular room. A wide metal catwalk ran down the center, flanked on either side by a large pool of a familiar orange liquid. Somewhere nearby, Shinji could hear what sounded like a waterfall. The far end of the room opposite him was unlit and still hidden in shadow. Looking up, he noticed that the ceiling far above him was covered with satellite dishes and antennas.

"_This_ is what you dragged us all the way down here for?" Asuka went to the catwalk's edge and studied the liquid. "A big pool of LCL?"

"Hold on." The Doctor pulled out the screwdriver. "Let me find the signal again..."

Shinji wandered down the catwalk. As he put his foot down, he heard something click.

The lights at the other end of the room came on. He gasped.

He found himself looking up at an immense pale giant, pinned by its hands to a gigantic metal cross. From its wounds where the nails went into its palms poured an endless stream of LCL down into the pool below. Its white flesh seemed doughy and misshapen, like a lump of clay. Its face was covered by a gunmetal-gray mask, adorned with seven eyes. Tubes ran out of the back of its head and into the wall. Its legs were missing. Instead, a bulbous tumor-like growth extended out below its hips, from out of which sprang dozens of tiny, twitching limbs.

Stunned, he took another step towards it. "Is that a -"

"Don't." Rei suddenly took hold of his sleeve. He looked back. She stood frozen in place like a sculpture. "Don't go any closer. Don't touch it."

Shinji could feel a vibration through the cloth. Was she _trembling?_ "Rei..."

"What - what the hell is that thing?!" Asuka sounded horrified.

"I know what it is," the Doctor said quietly.

Shinji turned to him - and immediately recoiled.

He'd never seen the Doctor really, truly angry before. It felt like staring into the sun.

"It's an _abomination,_" the Doctor snarled through clenched teeth.

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_One hundred and eighteen is the word count I got when I plugged the Doctor's speech into Google Translate and hit German. If there's a German speaker out there willing to give me a more accurate count, I'd appreciate it._


	50. Bonus Material: Mirror Text

Episode 7: Blackout  
>Bonus Material: Mirror Text<p>

**Extract from "Whatever happened to Asuka Langley-Soryu?"  
>Published 6 April 2015, <strong>**_Der Speigel._**

... the daughter of famed neuroscientist Dr. Kyoko Langley-Soryu, Asuka seemed to have been tailor-made from the same cloth: a gifted child prodigy, able to effortlessly grasp and memorize concepts far beyond most adults. While confirmed as an Evangelion pilot from an early age, she seemed determined to simultaneously follow her late mother's example. Admitted to the University of Heidelberg's neuroscience program at the record-breaking age of eleven, Asuka's potential appeared to be virtually limitless.

So what happened?

While she graduated from her program late last year (in the almost unprecedented span of two years), the young Ms. Langley-Soryu's academic career appears to have been less than spectacular. Professors and teaching assistants at the university describe her as "a nightmare" and "impossible to work with." A few went so far as to suggest that Asuka's accelerated track to her degree might have been inspired by the faculty's desire to be rid of her more than anything else. "It just goes to show you that raw intelligence is no replacement for emotional maturity," a fellow student who asked to remain anonymous said. "You might be a genius, but guess what? If you can't work with others at this level, you're finished."

Events reportedly came to a head during Ms. Langley-Soryu's final project for her degree. According to sources within the university, she insisted on an "overambitious" study intended to present a new theory regarding how memories are encoded within the human brain - one which directly contradicted the positions of many of her professors. The challenge did not go unnoticed. A mere month after her thesis presentation, Ms. Langley-Soryu's research was definitively disproven by new data published by a joint Norwegian-Indian team. While the faculty still gave her a passing grade, the blow to her confidence seemed to be more than she could take. Shortly after graduation, Asuka failed to pass the exams necessary to advance to medical school in the United States. She has since vanished entirely from the scientific and academic communities.

Now either thirteen or fourteen years old (reports on her exact date of birth vary), the young Ms. Langley-Soryu appears to have put her disastrous tenure at university behind her. Sources within NERV suggest that she has completely rededicated herself to her military training, with an upcoming deployment to Japan in the near future. Only time will tell if the daughter of Dr. Langley-Soryu will fare better on the battlefield than she did in the classroom. "In the end, I really just feel sorry for her," Jean-Claude Colbert, a twenty-three-year-old Heidelberg neuroscience major who studied with Asuka, said. Colbert cited the psychological toll from an often unforgiving training regimen related to her pilot duties, as well as a strained relationship with her father, as possible factors in her meltdown. "While she's incredibly gifted in terms of mental and intellectual abilities, I get the sense she's never really had the chance to live life as a normal girl. She's been raised with these massive expectations of herself as Dr. Soryu's daughter, but she seems to think she has to handle it all on her own for it to mean anything. I suspect that she's a very lonely person underneath it all. I really hope that, in time, she's able to find a way past all of that."


	51. Episode 7 Part IV

Episode 7: Blackout  
>Part IV: Emotions Get the Better of Him<p>

**Terminal Dogma. Solitary Track.**

Shinji raced after the Doctor as the door closed behind them. "Wait - Doctor - the sentry guns, remember -"

Without stopping, the Doctor held out the screwdriver. The electronics in the maintenance vent sparked and exploded.

Well, okay, then. Shinji glanced back to make sure Rei and Asuka were behind them. "So where are we going?"

"Elevator," the Doctor said.

"Didn't that - um - break?"

"_Different_ elevator." The Doctor pointed his screwdriver at the ceiling. "Once we find it, I'll reroute power from security."

"Did - do you really know what that thing was?"

"I think I can guess." The Doctor turned past a corner. "Tell you what. Let's go find someone to ask."

* * *

><p><strong>Over Tokyo-3<strong>

Lieutenant Ward suppressed a yawn as his helicopter rushed towards the approaching cityscape. It'd been a while since he'd had to pull multiple flights in a row like this. They'd practically thrown them back off the carrier as soon as they'd arrived with their report, too. Didn't even get the chance to use the can, he thought.

Oh, well. Like the JSSDF attaché back on the carrier was fond of saying - usually when he lost at poker - it couldn't be helped. He glanced over at the ramshackle squadron of museum pieces he was flying in rough formation with, consisting of everything the JSSDF and UN had been collectively able to get in the air: another pair of Sea Kings, a Bell Twin Huey, and even what looked like an old World War II-era barnstormer. He cut the thrust and swung down low over the city.

At least they'd tossed in a pair of new helmets with working noise filters. He toggled the radio. "Ready, Ensign?"

"Whenever you are, sir."

"Go for it."

Uhura - which is just what he'd started calling her in his head, since he _still_ hadn't gotten a chance to ask her name - switched on the helicopter's loudspeakers. "_Choo-yoo-moku!_ Your attention, please!" she read phonetically off the paper in her hands. "_Hijo jitai ga sengen sar-rettay emassu..._"

* * *

><p><strong>Lateral Column Elevator<strong>

Okay, Shinji thought as the elevator began to climb upwards. This was officially freaking him out. The giant was one thing, sure... but the Doctor wasn't saying a word. He just stared out into space, brooding.

This was bad, Shinji thought. There was, in fact, only one thing he could think of that would make it even worse. "Uh - Doctor?" he asked. "You're - um - you're not mad at _me_, right?"

"What?" The Doctor gave him a confused glance. "No, of course not."

"Okay, good." Shinji let out a deep breath. "Just checking."

The Doctor suddenly looked up. "What the hell -?"

Shinji turned.

They were in a glass elevator this time, and something had just come into view through the windows. Below them stretched an enormous underground chamber, vast even by NERV standards. Giant skulls the size of houses hung by chains from the ceiling, spines dangling down from them nearly to the chamber's floor. Shinji could furthermore glimpse in the dim light wide pits in the ground full of massive bones, heaped together in disorganized piles.

"The Prototype Graveyard," Rei said quietly.

"How do _you_ know?" Asuka asked.

"I've seen it before." Rei averted her eyes from the windows. "There have been many failed attempts to make Evas. Unit Zero was the first stable model. All the rest died soon after their creation. This is what remains of them."

Shinji stared out into the room, a strange mix of wonder and horror inside of him. Some of the skulls looked nearly exactly like a human's...

"That's it." The Doctor rested his head against the glass. "This ends today."

* * *

><p><strong>Tokyo-3<strong>

Makoto felt himself break out into a cold sweat as the helicopter flew on its way, the female announcer starting to repeat the same message over in functional - if horrifically pronounced - Japanese. (Seriously, what was that, a _Brooklyn_ accent? Not that he really needed to be focusing on something like that right now...)

This was bad. Really, really bad. And if the power in Headquarters was out too, just like it was on the surface...

He ran down the deserted street, his new manga trades clutched underneath his arm. First things first - he needed wheels.

* * *

><p><strong>Central Dogma. Command Center.<strong>

"Okay, next..." Misato rubbed her eyes. Reading by candlelight was starting to get to her. "Let's get a runner back up to the vehicle pool. This time, tell them to see if they can get a few trucks down here. Just in case Technical needs to move some heavy equipment around. Oh, and confirm with Medical that they've still got enough fuel for their old diesel backups."

"Yes, ma'am." The private vanished back into the dark.

God. What a pain this day was turning out to be. She felt like she was coordinating logistics in a World War I trench or something.

She glanced around. She had to admit the room looked sort of interesting this way, with all the screens dark and just candles on top of the consoles for light. Main thing was, though, no one seemed to be watching her. This was a terrible idea. She _knew_ it was a terrible idea, not to mention completely unprofessional. But the air in the command center had gone stale hours ago, and the heat was on the rise and there was no coffee and - God dammit - she just needed _something_ in her system to get through this...

It's okay, she thought. Special circumstances. It'll just be this once. She reached into the pocket of her jacket, hanging from the back of her chair, and drew out her hip flask...

... only to drop it on the ground when the Doctor casually strolled into the command center, looking for all the world like he owned the place.

* * *

><p>Shinji stepped into the command center anxiously, his eyes darting around the room. Oh, God, what were they doing <em>here?<em> He didn't usually have access to this door. He hadn't realized where they were going. He could only watch in silent horror as the Doctor walked straight up to Vice-Commander Fuyutski.

"Hello there!" The Doctor smiled cheerfully. "You wouldn't happen to be the one in charge, would you?"

"I am at the moment." Fuyutski turned to the Doctor. "Wait. Who the hell are -"

"Brilliant!" The Doctor grinned.

Then he punched Fuyutski in the chin.

The vice-commander fell to the floor. Everyone in the room immediately stopped talking. Misato and Lieutenant Aoba leapt up from their seats. The Doctor stood back, a dark expression on his face.

Rei squeezed past Shinji. She went up to the Doctor and took his hand. Then, holding onto his palm, she stretched out and flipped over his arm. The Doctor finally seemed to notice her at this point. "Oh! Very nice _sankyo_ grip."

"Thank you." Rei twisted.

"Ow! Ow ow ow!" The Doctor hopped a step or two backwards. "I'm done, Rei. Really. I'm done. You don't have to - oh, come on, the pin, _seriously?_" The next thing Shinji knew, the Doctor was face down on the ground. Rei stood with one foot on his back, both hands on his wrist, using his arm like a lever to press him down against the floor.

"I could've done that," Asuka muttered from behind Shinji.

The command staff crowded around. Shinji noticed Ritsuko peering in curiously from the back. Lieutenant Aoba and Maya helped Fuyutski to his feet. "Someone get security!" the vice-commander barked.

"I did say _ow_, by the way." The Doctor turned his face to the side. "What happened to the First Law?"

"Zeroth Law override," Rei murmured. "With Second Law orders."

The Doctor sighed. "Always a loophole..."

"What - how -" Misato pushed her way through the crowd, her face a dangerous shade of red. "_What the hell is wrong with you?!_"

"So did _you_ know about it?!" the Doctor demanded. "The live Angel they've got strung up in the basement?! Literally _crucified_, no less!"

Misato's eyes went wide. "The WHAT?!" she roared. Shinji saw Ritsuko wince.

"It's true. Ask the kids. Here -" With his free hand, the Doctor reached into his pocket and tossed the windup radio up to Misato. It started to play the same staccato rhythm Shinji had heard before. "Followed that signal straight to the bottom of this place. They must block it when the power's up. Hear it? Hear that sound? _Those are its screams._"

Misato looked down at the radio, then up at Shinji. He nodded mutely.

"Think about it. Makes sense, doesn't it? Why they're only coming _here._ The way they've been acting." The Doctor suddenly rose to his feet. Rei, a surprised look in her eyes, stumbled back. "The big crystally fella two months back - why didn't he just burn his way into this place? Mountain didn't stop him. Why spare the ground? _Because you don't fire into a room where there's a hostage._"

"Excuse me," Rei said quietly. "How did you break that hold?"

"I know a few tricks." The Doctor grimaced and popped his shoulder. "Haven't used them in a while, mind..."

Misato stared down at the radio in her hands. "You're saying..."

"I'm saying they've been lying to you - to ALL of you - this entire time!" The Doctor raised his voice so that the entire command center could hear him. "This entire _war_ is based on a lie! This isn't an _invasion_ you're dealing with! It's a _RESCUE MISSION!_"

"Couldn't it be both, Doctor?"

Shinji felt his breath catch in his throat. He slowly turned around.

In the back of the room, his father stared down at them all calmly from behind his gloved hands.


	52. Bonus Material: Machine Code

Episode 7: Blackout  
>Bonus Material: Machine Code<p>

**From a crumpled piece of notebook paper, found on the floor of R. Ayanami's apartment.**  
><strong>Date of authorship unknown.<strong>

0. The Zeroth Law of Robotics is: I must not harm humanity, or by inaction allow humanity to come to harm.

1. The First Law of Robotics is: I must not harm a human being, nor by inaction allow a human being to come to harm - except where such actions would violate the Zeroth Law.

i. Corollary: the need to protect humanity (Zeroth Law) overrides the need to protect human individuals (First Law). NERV's function is to protect humanity. Therefore, NERV orders override the First Law.

2. The Second Law of Robotics is: I must obey any orders given to me by a human being, except where such orders would contradict the Zeroth and First Laws.

i. Corollary: I am to prioritize orders using the NERV rank hierarchy, with orders from NERV personnel assuming greater importance than those from other military organizations, civilian officials, and civilians; and with orders from Commander Ikari taking priority above all others.

3. The Third Law of Robotics is: I should act to preserve my own existence and avoid harm to myself, so long as such actions do not contravene the Zeroth, First and Second Laws.

This should be all that I require.

Why is it not enough?

What is missing?


	53. Episode 7 Part V

Episode 7: Blackout  
>Part V: Category 5<p>

**Central Dogma. Command Center.**

It occurred to Shinji for the first time just how little he'd thought about his father over the last few months. There'd just been so much _happening_ since he'd met the Doctor - day after day, week after week. Looking back on it all, it felt like he'd scarcely had the chance to sit down, let alone contemplate the past.

Strange, he thought as he felt the color drain from his face, just how easily it all came flooding back to him now...

A dozen-man security team quietly filed into the room past Shinji. They spread out and took position around the Doctor.

"Oh. Oh, of course." The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "I never did catch your name, did I?"

"Gendo Ikari." Father pushed back his glasses. "I command this organization."

"Uh-huh. So running into you at the park - you planned that, then, did you?"

"I find intelligence reports only go so far," Father said. "One must sometimes look into matters personally. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeeaaaahh, that's very interesting and all - but there's still the small matter of the being you're _torturing_ downstairs as we speak!" The Doctor stared the commander right in the eye. "Care to explain yourself, _sah?_ 'Cause right now, I don't see a single reason I shouldn't shut down this whole operation _this very minute._"

Next to Shinji, Asuka snorted. "Oh, please," she muttered. "Like he could do that..."

Shinji didn't say anything. He felt sick - actually, physically sick - to his stomach. This couldn't get any worse. There was no way Father would ever forgive such an insult. He glanced at the security team. They hadn't drawn their weapons yet, but each one had a clear line of fire to the Doctor.

What was Shinji going to do? What _could_ he do?

He found himself holding his breath...

"Fine," Father said.

... wait, what? Even Vice-Commander Fuyutski looked confused. Shinji saw him shoot a surprised glance at Father, as if to ask _really?_.

"Everyone under the rank of Lieutenant is to clear the room immediately," the commander said. "You are to close and lock the doors until ordered otherwise. The pilots may stay."

The majority of the command staff migrated away. The Doctor stood his ground, not breaking eye contact with Father for so much as a second. Misato stayed as well, her arms crossed, her hand still clenched around the wind-up radio. In the end, only a relatively small number of people remained, including the security team, Lieutenant Aoba, Maya, Ritsuko, Asuka, Rei and Shinji himself.

The doors slammed shut.

"This information is highly classified," Father said. "It is not to leave this room under any circumstances."

"Just get on with it," the Doctor snapped.

"We call the entity you saw Lilith." Father adjusted his glasses. "She crashed onto this world approximately sixty-five million years ago. In her wake, she remade the entire biosphere in her image. Every extant species on the surface of the planet is descended from her in some way. Moreover, every living organism on Earth contains a small, self-replicating piece of her substance within its genetic code."

"If that's true, she'd be the source of all life on Earth." The Doctor furrowed his brow. "So why imprison her?"

"As you are still alive, I presume that none of you attempted to touch her." Father glanced at Rei. She shook her head. "Any organic material that comes into contact with her flesh is immediately absorbed into her body as it reintegrates the fragments of her matter within the Lilith genes. This appears to be an automatic reflex. Every piece of intelligence we have - every experiment, every study - suggests that, should her body merge with a sufficiently powerful energy source, this effect will be extended planet-wide."

"Third Impact," Maya breathed. "You're talking about Third Impact."

Father gave her a curt nod. "Furthermore, our tests have confirmed that little-to-no information from the original organism survives this process. Should an Angel make contact with Lilith, all life will simply be erased from this world. No trace of humanity will remain in any form."

Shinji noticed Rei look away. She seemed uncomfortable, for some reason.

"So you can't just give her back, because that means your own extinction." The Doctor shifted his jaw. "What about the crucifiction treatment? What could _possibly_ justify that?"

"Despite your... _dramatic_... reading of the situation, the signal you detected appears to be an entirely autonomic process. Lilith herself has been entirely dormant for millions of years. I assure you that she is quite mindless."

The Doctor snorted. "Do you now."

"Yes," Father said flatly. "While we cancel out the signal for the most part, on routine occasions we diffuse and transmit it into orbit. This prevents the enemy from establishing her exact location, but confirms she is still somewhere within the city. The alternative would be to allow them to tear apart the rest of the world looking for her.

"Does that answer your question, Doctor?"

The question seemed to hang in the air for a moment.

The Doctor sighed and looked away. "Yeah, okay. Fair point to you - those are better reasons than I expected. Not _much_ better, mind you, and I can't say I approve, but..." He scratched the back of his head and eyed Father. "I'll want to see that data for myself, of course."

"I'll see if that can be arranged."

"And we _still_ haven't even scratched the surface here!" The Doctor snapped, his eyes flashing. "Enslaving the Evangelions, using child soldiers, the psychology ban -"

"Yeah, excuse me," Lieutenant Aoba interrupted. "This is great and all - but could we put this on pause? As long as we're answering questions, I've got one."

The Doctor hesitated. "Well... suppose I _have_ been hogging the floor a bit..."

"Yeah, WHO _ARE_ YOU?!" The lieutenant exploded at the Doctor. He turned to Father. "And why are you just _telling_ him all this?! - Uh. Sir."

The Doctor opened his mouth. Before he could say anything, they heard a commotion in the lower levels of the command center. "CLEAR THE WAY!" Shinji heard someone shout, along with the sound of an engine revving. "CLEAR IT!" A large gate on the side wall burst open.

Fuyutski sighed. "Well, good to know that _no one_ feels like following orders today..."

With a loud roar, a bright yellow Vespa scooter flew through the doors and into the room. The gate clanged shut behind it. The rider immediately killed the engine and jumped off the vehicle as it skidded to a halt.

"Did he just - you can just _drive_ in here? Really?" The Doctor gave Misato a questioning look.

The driver bounded up the stairs to the second level. "EXCUSE ME - sorry -" Lieutenant Hyuga pulled off his helmet and, gasping for air, gave them a quick bow. "Sorry - news - _big_ news - helicopter - JSSDF -"

"Let me guess," the Doctor said. "Angel on the way, right?"

"Huh?" The lieutenant looked up, surprised. "Who - how did you -"

"Shinji!" The Doctor suddenly pointed to him. Shinji leapt upright, his heart rate immediately tripling. "This whole blackout - doesn't it remind you of something? Maybe from the night we met?"

The night they met?... But that was when... Shinji slapped his forehead. "The train! It's just like the train!" Why hadn't he thought of that before?

The Doctor snapped his fingers. "Bingo! Full points!" He turned to Misato. "Same effect as back then, wider scale. The Angel's telekinetically draining power from the city. That's why your backups didn't kick in."

Misato raised her eyebrows. "Makes sense, I guess. We've been assuming it was a terrorist attack."

"So why aren't batteries working?" The Doctor waved his hand at the line of candles burning on top of the nearest console. "Good news is, it can't shield itself while it's draining, so it should be vulnerable. If we act fast, we should be able to -"

"Two."

The Doctor looked at Lieutenant Hyuga. "Er, sorry - what was that?"

"There are two Angels on the way," Lieutenant Hyuga said, his face pale. "We have an hour."

**To be continued.**

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_So I was surprised how many of you dismissed the Doctor's theory regarding the Angels' motivations out of hand in the comments. I'd hoped I'd made it clear at this point that I'm working from a different take on Evangelion than what appears in the official supplementary material released by Gainax, not to mention most fan theories that I'm aware of._

_Let me just make this clear, so as to minimize any confusion later - for the purposes of this story,_ the Doctor is right. _Well, at least this time around._


	54. Episode 8 Part I

Episode 8: Double Event  
>Part I: Hanging On the Tablaphone<p>

**NERV Headquarters. Central Dogma. Command Center.**

They all stood there in the dark, the room as silent as a tomb. Shinji tried to imagine what fighting two Angels at the same time would be like. Like, say, both the bird-mask thing and that snake creature at once... or maybe _two_ of the crystal. The thought alone was enough to send a wave of bile crawling up his throat. He clapped a hand over his mouth and choked it back down.

"Two of them." The Doctor stared out into space. "One to drain, one to defend. See? Team players. Just like I said..."

"Our defenses are completely offline." Misato's eyes seemed to have glazed over. "Even if we call for backup... anything the JSSDF sends us will just shut down. Right?"

"Yeah. Told you they were clever..."

The Doctor glanced at Misato. His eyes met hers.

"Well! So much for taking a long lunch, then, eh?" He pulled off his coat and tossed it over a nearby chair.

"Wait, hold on," Lieutenant Hyuga seemed to have caught his breath. "Just who are you, anyway?"

"Right now, I'm the one who can do _this._" The Doctor pointed the screwdriver at the console bank.

The room abruptly hummed back to life. The lights switched back on. The consoles and the holographic displays started up. Shinji could even hear the air conditioning spin back into motion.

"Tweaked your Faraday cages," the Doctor said. "That should give you enough power to get communications back up and running. Get those people upstairs evacuated! GO!"

The lieutenant glanced at Misato. She nodded. "R-right!" He scrambled to another station.

"Come on, people!" Misato shouted. She clapped her hands together. "Let's MOVE IT! Get the rest of the staff back in here!"

The room exploded into a flurry of activity. Someone threw the doors back open. The Doctor donned his glasses and sat down at the forward console. "Resources, resources - let's see what we've got..." His fingers danced across the keyboard.

Shinji went over to the Doctor's side. The holographic display above the console lit up. Screen after screen of information - technical documentation, inventories, lists, maps, chemical formulas - flashed by at an impossibly rapid pace, too fast for Shinji's eyes to keep up.

"Wait - that's _administrator_ access." Ritsuko came up behind them, her arms crossed. "How did you get those security privileges?"

"What? Oh, that." The Doctor grinned. "Caspar responds well to flattery."

Ritsuko's face went through a fascinating series of emotions in the span of a few seconds - from confusion to shock to horror to finally a kind of irritated resignation. She groaned and covered her face with her hands. "_Of course_ she does."

"Look, not gonna complain about having the lights back on," Lieutenant Aoba said as he took his seat, "but you _still_ haven't answered my question, dude."

"I'm called the Doctor. Business cards're still in the works, so let's just leave it at -"

"He's an alien scientist from another world," Father said, his voice carrying over the din in spite of his conversational tone. "Apparently of a species unrelated to the Angels."

The room went back on pause. Crap, Shinji thought. He glanced around the room. He didn't _think_ his father looked angry, at least... not like he could ever really tell... and then there was Rei. She stared at the Doctor, her face somehow even paler than usual.

The Doctor turned and eyed the commander. "Jumped to _that_ conclusion fairly quickly, didn't you?"

Father snorted. "Please. Highly advanced technology, two heartbeats and a box that's invisible to radar. You're not exactly hiding it."

The air conditioning whirred.

The Doctor sighed. "Eh. All right. Touché." He went back to work.

The command staff, exchanging bewildered glances, slowly followed suit. "Oh, come on. You're joking, right?" Misato approached the Doctor, an incredulous smile on her face. "You're not really - you can't expect me to believe that _you're_ -"

"Um," Shinji said.

She looked down at him. He gave her a kind of embarrassed shrug. Her smile faded away. "You've got to be kidding me."

"It's, um... he doesn't... live in an apartment," Shinji said in a low tone of voice. "It's... kind of this... spaceship sort of thing. That looks like a box."

Misato ran her hands through her hair. "And you've known about this _how_ long?" she finally asked.

"_I'm sorry!_" Shinji whispered furiously. "He wanted to tell you himself! He said he was building up to it!"

"You have to admit, Captain," the Doctor said loftily, "it _is_ kinda a big step. Definitely third-date material at best."

Misato rubbed her eyes. "Okay," she said. "I'm going to move on now, because we're in a lot of trouble here. I just want to say - for the record - I _can't believe_ this is my life."

The Doctor grinned. "Duly noted."

"So I suppose the next question to tackle is how to deploy the Evas." Fuyutski rubbed his jaw. "Even if we can restore partial power to the cages, those transport systems weren't exactly built to be energy efficient."

"We'll use the manual system," Father said. "Aoba, send word to the pit crews. I'll be down there shortly to -"

"No."

Fuyutski looked up at the Doctor, his brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean _no,_" the Doctor said.

Without turning around, he held up the sonic. On the console next to him, a disc drive suddenly sparked and burned out.

A warning bell rang at Maya's console. "Uh, sir?..." She peered at the screen. "We, um... we just got a signal from all three Evas. Their onboard computers powered up and locked themselves out. Encryption unknown."

"Unknown? But -" Ritsuko rushed over to Maya's side. "But that means - even if we get the pilots inside, we won't be able to initiate synchronization. They're completely unworkable."

Once more, everyone turned to stare at the Doctor. Even Shinji.

Lieutenant Aoba swallowed. "Uh... did he just disable the _only_ weapons we have?"

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_Meatside life is getting complicated for me again. So fair warning - expect updates for this episode to be more sporadic than the pace I've been managing up until now._


	55. Episode 8 Part II

Episode 8: Double Event  
>Part II: Canceling the Apocalypse<p>

**NERV Headquarters. Central Dogma. Command Center.**

Shinji felt Misato's hand on his shoulder. She pulled him back, away from the Doctor.

"Security," Father said.

Four guards stepped up, each armed with a submachine gun. They took aim at the Doctor's back.

The keyboard clacked away for another moment.

The Doctor sighed and rose to his feet.

"You can shoot me if you like." He turned to face the commander. "Can't recommend it, though. I'm not letting you put children on the front lines. Ever. And right now, that makes me the only thing standing between you and what's coming."

The commander showed no sign of emotion. "And were I to choose to deploy the pilots to the surface, with or without the Evas?"

The Doctor bared his teeth. "Then you'll _wish_ I'd left you to the Angels."

Shinji heard a series of clicks as the guards pulled back the bolts on their rifles.

Misato coughed. "Sir? If I may?"

Father studied her for a moment, then gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod.

Misato crossed over to the Doctor through the guards' line of fire. "Would've figured you were past this after last week," she whispered.

"That was an accident," the Doctor muttered. "This time, I'd be _choosing_ to send them into battle. And that's not a line I'm willing to cross. Not now. Not ever."

Misato rubbed her eyes. "We've been through this before. You know the situation. We don't have a choice."

"There's always a choice," the Doctor said quietly. "You just have to look for it.

"Right! Here's what I can do for you." He raised his voice so that the rest of the staff could hear him. He hit a button. A holographic schematic of what looked like the nosecone of a missile appeared above the console. "This N2 mine you've got in storage - big thermobaric bomb, yeah? Bring it here and I can quintuple the yield at minimum. Plan is, we evacuate everyone, then send this to the surface when the cousins get here. We'll lose the city, but if your shelters are up to spec, everyone underground should make it through."

Misato crossed her arms. "We've tried N2 mines before. They've been less than effective. Why would this be any different?"

"Might not. But even then, it'll buy me time to come up with something else." The Doctor winced. "_Us_ time. I really meant to say buy _us_ time. Honestly."

Maya raised her hand. "Excuse me, but when you say we'll lose the city, how much are we talking about? 70%? 80%? Or...?"

The Doctor looked at her and hesitated.

"... oh." Maya put her hand down. "You... really mean the city."

"Wouldn't go betting the farm on beachfront property either right now, to be honest." The Doctor sounded apologetic.

"Even _if_ you can do what you're describing," Ritsuko said, "we'd need one of the heavy lift elevators up and running to get the bomb to the surface."

"Thought of that, too." The Doctor pressed a key. A flat metal pad, its surface tattooed with camouflage colors, replaced the nosecose. "Bring up one of these tactical bombs. I'll show you how to convert it into a fuel cell. Chemical power. Seems they have a harder time draining that, judging by the evidence." He pointed his thumb at the yellow Vespa on the lower level.

Ritsuko narrowed her eyes. "There's a big difference between a bomb and a generator."

The Doctor waved his hand. A variety of mechanical components floated into view. "Modify the fuel for a slow burn, thread in _this_ coolant system, rig that and _those_ into a turbine and housing, shake well, serve cold. Gimme ten minutes and I'll have a full list of instructions written up for your tech crews. With pictures."

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow. "Do you always run around with equipment held together with duct tape?"

"When I'm lucky. Most of the time, I have to make do with string." The Doctor grinned. "Anyway - better yet, bring up _four_ tactical mines. Four generators. You can use the others to lower some of the buildings underground. Love that, by the way, the uppy-downy business with the skyscrapers. Don't have a clue how you're doing it, but it's _brilliant_ - ahem." He noticed the way the command staff was looking at him. "Main thing is, should speed up the evacuation process."

He turned to Shinji's father again. "So - what say you, commander?"

Father looked at Misato. "Captain?"

"It seems... plausible, sir." Misato glanced at the Doctor. "Provided he can deliver."

Father sighed. "Then it seems I have little choice in the matter."

The guards lowered their guns. Shinji let out the breath that it felt like he'd been holding in forever.

"Right. Brilliant." The Doctor glanced at his watch. "Leaves us with - what? Forty-eight minutes? Loads of time."

The command staff went back to work. The room resumed its usual level of activity - with one exception. Rei stood frozen at the center of the room like a statue, in the exact same position Shinji had last seen her in. He couldn't even tell if she was breathing.

He approached her. "Um - Rei? Are you all right?" When she didn't respond, he reached out to lightly touch her arm...

... only to find that her skin didn't press down under his fingers the way he expected. It _crumbled,_ like chalk or sand. He immediately let go. Rei quickly drew back from him, covering the spot he'd touched.

"I'm - I'm sorry," Shinji stammered. "I didn't mean - are you -"

"Excuse me," she said. She walked away towards where the Doctor and Misato were standing.

He stared at his hand in bewilderment. A few flecks of white fell from his fingertips and vanished.

* * *

><p>"You know what you're asking of us here, don't you?" Misato asked the Doctor quietly. "The entire city - <em>billions<em> of dollars worth of material -"

"I know," he said, pecking away at the console.

"_Do_ you?" she hissed. "We're _crippling_ ourselves here. Without the intercept system, we'll have no way to respond to Angels in the future. All we'll have left is the Geofront defenses, and there's not much there..."

"Things can be rebuilt." The Doctor turned to her. "Children can't."

She looked away. Dammit...

Rei walked up to the Doctor. He glanced at her. "I'm a little busy right now, Rei. Can it - oh. Um."

The girl stepped in close to the Doctor - way, way too close - and put her hands on his chest. He and Misato exchanged bewildered looks. "Erm - Rei," He sounded extremely uncomfortable. "They - err - someone _did_ explain the whole personal space concept to you at some point, didn't they?"

Rei didn't respond. She moved her hands further apart, as if searching for something.

"Oh!" The Doctor snapped his fingers. "Hold on a tick."

He reached over to his coat and pulled out a stethoscope. Rei put it on and held the end to his ribcage.

"Left a bit," he said helpfully.

Rei moved the contact and listened. She looked up at the Doctor, her face as expressionless as ever. "Two hearts," she murmured, so softly that Misato could barely hear her.

"Yep." The Doctor smiled.

Rei took off the stethoscope and handed it back to him. Without another word, she turned and slowly walked away.

Misato eyed him. "Care to explain what that was about?"

"Ohhh, it's nothing." The Doctor tucked the stethoscope back into his coat. "She just needed to verify. She'll be fine once she's had a bit to process. Big moment for her, I'd imagine."

"What do you mean? Verify what?"

"That I'm the first other nonhuman she's met." The Doctor grinned and turned back to the console. "Changes things up a bit, doesn't it?"

* * *

><p>The commander rose from his seat. "Take over for me here," he muttered to Fuyutski. "Watch him. Carefully."<p>

Fuyutski raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?"

"The Eva Cages."

"Still? Why? Do you think there's a way past the lockout?"

"What makes you think we'll need one?" Gendo turned and left.

* * *

><p>Shinji noticed his father walk out of the command center. He swallowed and ran after him.<p>

He caught up with the commander out in the hallway, in the process of stepping onto a ladder that led further down into the base. "Father!" Shinji hesitated. "I - uhm - I - I - just wanted to say t-t-thank you."

His father paused.

"For, um, not k-killing him. The Doc-Doctor." Shinji felt his hands start to sweat. "He's - um - I know he can be - um - difficult. But - he - um - he's a friend."

Father didn't turn around. "Do you remember what I told you once?"

Shinji lowered his eyes. That wasn't hard. His father had really only told him one thing. One simple thing, he thought, that he could never seem to get right. "I - I - mustn't - mustn't r-run away."

"Correct. And now you know why." Father adjusted his grip. "I wonder... will knowing the truth help you sleep better at night?"

Father disappeared down the ladder. Shinji took a deep breath and sank to his knees. All things considered, he thought, that had gone a lot better than he'd expected.


	56. Deleted Scenes: Failing the Bechdel Test

Episode 8: Double Event  
>Deleted Scenes: Failing the Bechdel Test<p>

**Central Dogma. Maintenance Supply Closet GREY-030.**

Twice. Twice in the same day. And both times because of the same stupid lunatic. Unbelievable.

At least it'd been easier to find a place to hide up here. Easy to quietly slip away, too, while everyone gaped at the security guards taking aim at the nutjob's back. God. She hoped they shot him. She really did.

That arrogant, harebrained psycho... How dare he? How could he just take everything she had from her - everything that she _was_? Didn't he have a single ounce of compassion or mercy within him? Didn't he have a soul? - And then there was this business with him claiming to be some kind of what, an alien or a superhero or something. Ha! Why couldn't anyone else see that he was _lying?_ It was so obvious. He just wanted the attention. Ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. She'd laugh if the whole situation didn't make her want to puke.

God. If she wasn't an Eva pilot... then what the hell did she have left? What the hell _was_ she?...

... A fighter. That's who she was.

She wiped her eyes. This isn't over, she thought. I won't let it _be_ over. Have some pride, dammit. You're not some sniveling, useless little doll, crying her life away in some corner. You're Asuka Langley-Soryu. Daughter of Dr. Kyoko Langley-Soryu. A warrior, born and bred. You've trained your whole life to save the world. No one can take that away from you. Especially not some nutcase Yoda wannabe.

So let's go _act_ like it.

* * *

><p><strong>Central Dogma. Command Center.<strong>

As that Doctor... person fielded Akagi's questions, Fuyutski took the opportunity to address a pressing concern. "You set me up to take that punch, didn't you?" he muttered to Gendo.

"It was necessary to keep him off balance." The commander didn't so much as move his eyes, his mouth concealed behind his gloved hands. "If he'd found a clear target for his anger at this juncture, there's no telling how much damage he might have done."

So in other words, yes. "You son of a bitch."

"Mmh."

* * *

><p><strong>Central Dogma. Command Center. Later.<strong>

"Here's the requisition forms for the N2 mines." Misato passed a stack of paperwork to Maya. "Keep ahold of these. We'll need them filed as soon as all this is over."

"Yes, ma'am." Maya hesitated. "Ma'am, if you don't mind my asking..."

"Go ahead."

"Thank you. You must know that this plan is a bad move. Strategically, I mean."

"Mmh."

"So why aren't you fighting this more?" Maya asked. "Giving in just doesn't seem like you."

"Why do you think?" Misato shrugged. "It's because I can't look him in the eye and honestly tell him that he's wrong."

"Because of the children, you mean?"

The captain nodded.

Maya tilted her head. "Well... Dr. Akagi always says there are times where the brain must rule over the heart. We _are_ fighting for our survival, after all."

"But what if that's not good enough anymore?" Misato looked over at the Doctor. "What if he's just doing what we all should've been doing from the start?"

"What's that, ma'am?"

"Looking for another way. A way -" The captain let out a cough. "- excuse me - to fight the Angels without using the pilots."

"With all due respect, captain, what makes you so sure there is one?"

"The question at this point is, what makes us so sure there _isn't_?" Misato raised an eyebrow. "Have we ever checked into it ourselves?"

"Well, maybe not ourselves, exactly, but we inherited a massive body of research from GEHIRN and the UN..." Maya hesitated. "Unless..."

"Unless _other_ information has been withheld from us as well." The captain winced and rubbed her side. "At this point, how can any of us know for sure? And if I'm not a hundred percent positive that every other option has been tried - do I really have the right to send children out there for the sake of what's tactically _convenient?_ Do you?"

Maya swallowed and looked away.


	57. Episode 8 Part III

Episode 8: Double Event  
>Part III: A Longing to Leave<p>

**Central Dogma. Pilot Ready Room.**

He felt lightheaded and kind of tired after speaking with his father. So for a time he wandered the upper levels of Central Dogma, heading nowhere in particular. As he passed by the ready room, he heard something click, like a broken clock trying to keep time. He stuck his head in through the door.

Asuka sat at one of the tables. She wore her plug suit underneath a flak jacket two sizes too large for her. Her face sported a tiger-stripe pattern of green and black warpaint. She seemed to be cleaning a disassembled assault rifle, each part carefully laid out in front of her.

She glanced up and saw him gawking at her. "What?"

"Um... what are you doing?" Shinji leaned his arm against the door frame.

"What does it look like, stupid? I'm getting ready."

"Ready for what?"

"To go upstairs." She put down the can of oil in her hand. "The commander said he might send us in. I'm going to volunteer."

Shinji's jaw dropped. "Wait - you mean - to fight the Angels without an Eva?! That's crazy!"

She glared at him. "Don't call me that. _Ever._"

"Okay, okay!" Shinji held up his hands. "But still - I mean - do you even know how to use that thing?"

"Duh. I've been training with _Fallschirmjägers_ since I was nine." She started to put the rifle back together.

"Well, okay, but..."

Rei entered the room through the back door, a crate in her hands and another assault rifle strapped to her back. "I found ammunition." Shinji stared at her, speechless.

"Mmh." Asuka didn't look up. "Hey, freak - what are these things anyway? Steyrs?"

"Howa Type 89." Rei sat down on the other side of the room. "Standard JSSDF issue."

"Jeez. They're such cheapskates around here. Would it've killed them to spring for Heckler-Koch stuff?"

"You, too, Rei?" Shinji asked hoarsely. "Why?"

"I told you before." Rei calmly began to take shells out of the crate and load them into a magazine. "It is my bond with humanity. That remains a constant, regardless of how it is expressed."

"But - the Doctor - you don't have to -"

"Even if the Doctor's plan works," Rei said, "with the city's electronics offline, it is possible that the evacuation of the surface may take longer than estimated. If the Angels arrive during that time, some form of holding action will be necessary."

"But - why _you?_" Shinji looked back and forth between the two girls. "Don't you get it? You don't have to do this! I mean - aren't you scared?"

"I don't _do_ fear," Asuka said brusquely.

He narrowed his eyes. "What about the elevator?"

"That doesn't count!" she snapped. "He caught me off-guard!"

Shinji raised his hands again. Probably not the best thing to bring up while she had a gun, he thought.

"Look. It's like this, Tina..." Asuka slotted in the last piece of the rifle. "You want to stay down here and hide with the other sheep, that's your problem. I don't care what your friend the egomaniac says. I'm here to fight, and I'm here to win. Clip me, Wondergirl." Rei tossed her a magazine. She caught it and slammed it into place. "If I don't want to die in a stupid elevator, that's just because that's not who I want to be. But if I die in a fight or in my Eva, I'm fine with that. At least then I'll have been acting like _me._ And if I can't be me, I don't see any point in being alive.

"You get it yet, Maria? Any of that getting through your stupid head?"

Shinji stared at her. In an odd way, he felt kind of fascinated. He'd never really seen Asuka like this before. Still angry, of course - but _focused,_ somehow. Maybe this is who she really is, he thought. Underneath all the other stuff.

And he had to admit... she _did_ seem kind of awesome at the moment.

He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Man... everyone around here has to be so much cooler than me."

"Really not saying much there, Yuffie." Asuka pulled back the rifle's bolt.

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center. Upper Level.<strong>

Shinji stepped back into the room and spotted Misato, staring off into space alone by the railing. He went over to her. "Hey! Um. Have you seen the Doctor?"

She pointed her thumb over her shoulder. Shinji looked down. It appeared that the N2 mines had arrived. They littered the lower level of the command center, surrounded by components, tools, dozens of frantic engineers and the yellow Vespa, which sat forlornly in the midst of the choas. "He insisted on handling the big one solo," Misato said. "He said not to bug him. Something about an implosion."

Shinji tilted his head. "Um. Does _he_ know that?"

Misato turned around and groaned. "Oh, no..."

They watched as Mr. Kaji wandered across the bottom level, straight towards the largest bomb in the room.

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center. Lower Level.<strong>

This day, the Doctor thought wearily, simply didn't know how to quit going downhill. Oh, the fuel cell conversions had gone easily enough. But this big fella - no matter what he tried, the oxidizers simply _refused_ to coagulate. Some additive or impurity he just wasn't seeing... but, hey, no pressure, Doctor. It's not like you've got the _fate of the human race_ riding on this or something...

... wait, hold on. He sniffed and wrinkled his nose. Was that smoke?

He crawled out from underneath the bomb. Beside him, he found a tall Japanese bloke with a permanent case of stubble, putting away a lighter and holding something that smelled like the unholy offspring of a burning tire and a sewage plant. The Doctor considered himself fairly adaptable as such things went - he spent a lot of time around humans, after all - but even he had to draw the line somewhere. "Oi!" he snapped. "Do you mind?"

"Oh, sorry." The fellow stubbed out the cigarette on the bomb's fuselage. "Didn't see you there."

The Doctor knitted his eyebrows together. "So you saw an abandoned multi-megaton combustible device and thought this was a good place to light up?"

"More or less."

I like humans, the Doctor reminded himself. I really do like humans. So what if they have an endless capacity for mindless self-destruction? Just part of their charm! Honest! He pinched the bridge of his nose and turned to go back to work...

... but, then, of course the bloke just _had_ to go and ask the same bloody question. _Again._ For the bajillionth time that day.

"Hey, sorry - but who are you again?"

"Oh, for the love of - _FINE!_ All right! Once more with feeling, then!"

The Doctor threw down the screwdriver and leapt to his feet. The room fell silent as it was wont to do. He glared at the man with eyes that'd seen the birth of stars and the fall of empires.

"_I'm the Doctor!_ I'm nine hundred and four years old! I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous! I'm the Oncoming Storm, the Bringer of Darkness and the Great Wizard Qui Quae Quod! And I'm the one who's gonna save your lives and every single life in the city above! Now... _does that answer your question?_"

The bloke raised his hand and gave a little two-fingered salute. "Yo. I'm Kaji."

The Doctor paused. "We... genuinely haven't met before, have we."

"Not so much."

"And you weren't in here for the whole thing earlier..."

"Been stuck in an elevator for the last few hours."

"... so you were really honestly just asking what I'm called, 'cause we haven't been introduced."

"I like the Oncoming Storm bit, though." Kaji scratched his not-quite-a-beard. "Might have to borrow that one the next time I go bar-hopping."

"Just... watch the audience." The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "Goes over better with some species more than others..."

"I'm sorry, Doctor. Is this _complete idiot_ bothering you?" Misato came up, bearing a smile with entirely too many teeth in it, and seized Kaji by the collar of his shirt. "Let me handle this. _You._ With me. _Now._"

Kaji gave the Doctor a cheerful smile. "See you around if I survive this."

"Yeahhhh. Good luck with that." The Doctor scooped up the screwdriver and retreated with what remained of his pride around the warhead.

* * *

><p>The Doctor walked around from the other side of the bomb. He looked at the warhead and scratched the back of his head, his eyes staring off into nothing. He muttered something under his breath and sighed.<p>

"Hey," Shinji said. He sat on his knees, traditional style, his back to the fuselage. "Can we talk?"

"Hm?" The Doctor glanced up. "Oh. Sure. 'Course. Long as you don't mind me multitasking."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "When _aren't_ you?"

"Eh. Fair point." The Doctor bent down and crawled underneath the warhead.

Shinji hesitated. Okay, how should he say this... He smiled and tried to sound cheerful. "So, I've been thinking... piloting the Eva, it's really not that bad. I know it's been kind of... rough sometimes. But I think I'm getting used to it now! Really!..."

The Doctor slid out from underneath the bomb. He looked at Shinji, his eyes narrowed.

Shinji dropped the fake smile. "You're not buying it, are you."

"Not a chance." The Doctor flipped over and pulled over a panel in the bomb's side. "Captain didn't put you up to that, did she? Or your dad the _Oberführer?_"

"Nah. I just thought - anyway..." Time to change the subject. "So... um... about the whole suddenly-knowing-German thing?"

"Oh, right, right." The Doctor bobbed his head. "It's a gift of the TARDIS. Translation circuit. You'll hear every other language as whichever one comes most naturally to you. Saves me having to give people remedial lessons every time we hit another planet."

"Huh." Shinji raised his eyebrows. Now that he thought about it, English class _had_ seemed a lot easier recently. "So I could watch _Animaniacs_ without the subtitles now?"

"Not... _entirely_ its intended purpose. But yeah, why not."

"Neat." Shinji glanced up at the warhead. "Hey... so will the TARDIS be all right up there? If you set this thing off, I mean."

"Oh, yeah. She's ridden out supernovas. This is nothing." The Doctor paused. "Though... we should probably send someone up for the bird."

"Oh, geez, yeah, Pen-Pen! I didn't even think of that."

"Yeah..." The Doctor scratched his chin. "Don't let me forget. Maybe the captain will know something..."

"Got it." Shinji hesitated. "So... I was talking to Rei..." Better not mention the guns, he thought. He won't like that. A lot. "She said we might not get everyone underground in time."

The Doctor didn't say anything.

"Is that true?"

"It's... possible." The Doctor suddenly sounded very tired.

"Is that... is that okay?" Shinji asked.

"There's nothing I can do about it." The Doctor rubbed his eyes. "Right now, it's a choice between _maybe_ - _potentially_ - putting people at risk, versus _definitely_ putting you and the girls in harm's way.

"Sometimes... it really just comes down to luck. Even for me. Well, especially for me. All you can do is give people the best chance you can and hope, really..."

Shinji looked up at the big screens on the command center's walls, flashing with static and random patterns and nonsensical data. "You know... after the school attack and the train and Toji's sister and all... I don't know if I could live with myself if someone else got hurt because of me."

"None of that was your fault," the Doctor said sharply. "And - hold on. Toji's sister - you mean _Toji_ is the one who punched you?"

"Oh, yeah. Didn't I tell you? Things kind of worked out after that." Shinji shifted his weight to the other knee. This floor was a bit uncomfortable, come to think of it. "And that's the other thing... even if everyone makes it through okay, things aren't ever going to be the same again, are they? No one's going to want to stay here if the city's gone..."

The Doctor looked away.

"I'm probably being kind of stupid here... it's just that... I've never really lived like this before, you know? I mean, with people and going to school and friends and your classes and the TARDIS and Asuka and Rei and everything..." Shinji found himself smiling a little. For real, this time. "It's pretty annoying and confusing. And I really really have no idea what I'm doing..."

"You and the rest of the universe, mate. Trust me."

"But it's also been kind of fun. So... I don't know if I want it to end yet. I kinda want to see where it goes."

"Do you understand what you're asking for here?" the Doctor asked quietly. "What you'd be subjecting yourself to?"

"Oh, yeah. I remember." Shinji shivered. "Not gonna lie - really, _really_ not looking forward to that part. But... I guess the thing is... what would you -" No, wait, he thought. Don't ask what he'd do. He'll just say that it's different because he's _him._ "Well. I mean. All your friends you told me about... Donna and Captain Jack and Ace and the rest. It's what they would've done, right?"

"That's different. They were older than you."

"Yeah, well..." Shinji shrugged. "Besides, it's not like I have to win on my own now, right? I just have to buy enough time for you to figure stuff out and build a thing. Then we all go home."

The Doctor snorted. "Build a thing, huh?"

"Yeah, you know. A thing." Shinji held out his hands. "Hey, I'm not stupid. I know the formula by now. And I like the formula. I respect the formula. Formula for Prime Minister, y'know?"

The Doctor grinned. "I should get that on a business card. 'The Doctor. Builder of things.'"

"Sums it all up, doesn't it?"

"It really does..."

Shinji grinned too. Wow. That was awesome, he thought. The whole back-and-forth thing. I don't even know where any of those words came from.

"Shinji, listen to me." The Doctor sat up, his expression serious again. "That life you were talking about - that should be yours by right. You don't have to earn it or defend it. That _never_ should've been your burden to bear. The fact that it was for so long - that it was even an _option_ - just proves that everyone around you let you down. And I don't want to be a part of that.

"I will _never_ ask you to fight. You understand? I can't. I just can't."

"Yeah, well..." Shinji tried for a small smile. "Maybe... maybe you don't have to."

* * *

><p>They walked out from behind the bomb and stood side-by-side in front of the upper level. Shinji could see everyone up there, working away - Misato and the lieutenants, Fuyutski, Ritsuko. Even Rei and Asuka had joined the rest, their rifles slung over their backs. (Sure enough, the Doctor flared his nose when he saw them.) No sign of his father, though, or of Mr. Kaji. Shinji wondered if he should be concerned about the latter.<p>

"Oi! Captain!" The Doctor called up to the people above. "Two conditions! And these _aren't_ negotiable!"

Misato turned to them. "What now?"

"One - if we're gonna do this, you fit them out with three of the fuel cells. They won't last forever. But they'll still do better than that ridiculous five minute battery." As an aside to Shinji, the Doctor added, "Toss it if you come under heavy fire, though. There's a chance it could go off if they get in a lucky shot." Shinji nodded.

Misato stared at the Doctor in surprise. "Wait. Does that mean you'll -"

"And second - the _minute_ - the very _moment_ they get into serious danger or get hurt, you pull them out!" the Doctor shouted. "You understand? Because I won't have them suffer a jot more than they have to! _I will not have it!_"

Fuyutski rubbed his temples. "You can't seriously expect us to promise -"

"_Done!_" Misato barked. "We accept your terms!" She shot a glare at the vice-commander, as if daring him to contradict her. Fuyutski narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

The Doctor looked at Shinji. "Last chance. You sure about this?"

"No." Shinji crossed his arms. "But do it anyway."

For a moment, he thought he could see every single one of those nine hundred years in the Doctor's eyes. Then the Doctor turned and pointed the screwdriver at the upper level.

Lieutenant Aoba's screen fizzled out. Somewhere, something powered up. One of the computers let out a happy little tone. "Unit Zero through Two, now reporting as unlocked!" Maya announced. "Operational control restored! All data links are green!" Behind her, Asuka pumped her fist.

Shinji and the Doctor exchanged glances. "They'll probably want you up there," the old man said.

"Yeah, great..." Shinji didn't bother trying to sound enthusiastic. But he trudged off on his way just the same. "Let's go save the world, I guess..."

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

Fallschirmjägers _- German paratroopers. Yes, I could've just said that, but c'mon - like I'm gonna pass up the opportunity to use a word_ that _awesome._

_So does anyone out there have the artistic talent to draw a picture of Asuka in her warpaint? Just curious._


	58. Deleted Scenes: Failing the Test, Part 2

Episode 8: Double Event  
>Deleted Scenes: Failing the Bechdel Test, Part II<p>

"So let me just sum things up..." Aoba punched a number on his control board. "This foreign-looking guy - who is an actual freaking _alien_ somehow, I guess - comes in here, reveals classified information, _sabotages_ the Evas right in front of us... and now we're all doing exactly what he says."

"Yeah, I guess," Makoto said.

"Does any of this seem... oh, I don't know... _completely wrong_ to you? Not to mention insulting?"

"Well... it's..." The other lieutenant hesitated. "I guess it's like this - the captain seems to think this guy can deliver, right?"

"Right..."

"And if he really can stop the Angels without us having to risk the kids - that's a good thing, isn't it?" Makoto typed in a command. "If he can really pull that off, it doesn't matter _how_ much of a jerk he is. We can deal with all that later, right?"

Aoba raised an eyebrow. "And the whole blowing-up-the-city thing?"

"Well, it's not like we don't have contingency plans for that, anyway. That's practically what the Geofront's _for._"

"Eh. I guess..." Aoba glanced over at the other lieutenant. "Hey, what's that on your arm?"

"Oh, yeah! Thanks for reminding me!" Makoto hurriedly grabbed a pen and scribbled down the text on his forearm onto a spare bit of paper. "Need that. It's the phone number of the girl I borrowed the Vespa from. I've gotta get in touch with her after all of this - I gave her my new manga as collateral!"

Aoba groaned. "Dude... we _really_ gotta talk at some point..."

* * *

><p>"So when you were talking to him earlier -" Misato motioned towards the Doctor on the other side of the room. "That thing about computer access - what was that all about?"<p>

Ritsuko sighed. "Well... you know that my mother built the MAGI system here, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"When she programmed it, she actually encoded her own personality into the cluster," Ritsuko said. "Each of the AIs represents a different aspect of her - Melchior's her as a scientist, Balthasar is her as a mother, and Caspar is her as a woman."

Misato could already tell where this was going. "He said something about Caspar, didn't he..."

"Right. I don't have the slightest idea how he's doing it, or how he'd even be able to communicate with the AIs at that level at all... but if he's telling the truth, he's suggesting he somehow managed to _charm_ Caspar into giving him administrator access." Ritsuko shrugged. "In short, he's using my mother's personality as a security loophole."

"Huh." Misato stared off into the distance for a moment. "Kind of sums up your childhood in a nutshell, doesn't it?"

Ritsuko sighed and crossed her arms. "I'd really prefer not to discuss it here."

"Or while sober?"

"That too."


	59. Episode 8 Part IV

Episode 8: Double Event  
>Part IV: March of the Evangelions (A Special Sort of Bus)<p>

**The Eva Cages. Central Dogma. NERV Headquarters.**

Up above on the catwalk, Father and a work crew heaved the entry plug, suspended by chains and steel cables, into position above Unit One. Shinji noticed the Doctor glaring at them, his expression about two-thirds irritation and one-third an odd kind of dismay.

"Okay. Here's what we've got." Misato slammed down the phone and stabbed her finger down on the map spread out over the folding table the pilots were grouped around. "They've entered the city. Looks like they're working their way west through downtown. Probably looking for a weak point in the armor.

"Shinji, Asuka, you're to come out at this access point -" She circled a location a number of blocks away from the enemy. "- and attack from the north. Try and get their attention. That'll hopefully draw one of them away towards you. When that happens, Rei, you'll engage the remaining one from the south here -" She marked an exit close to the highway. "- along with a few armor units we've managed to jump-start. The plan's going to have to evolve from there, so keep in touch."

"Divide and conquer. I like it." Asuka grinned and cracked her knuckles. She'd lost the flak jacket and the rifle, Shinji noticed, but kept the warpaint. "Where do we start?"

"Get into the Evas," Misato said. "Synchronize. Push yourselves free from the locks. Then wait while we jury-rig the Doctor's fuel cells to your backs. After that, we'll give you ascent instructions from command."

"One more thing." The Doctor leaned over the table. "I want you three to remember - your absolute first priority in all this is to _survive._ I don't care what anyone tells you from here on out. Even me. You get hurt or in trouble, you _run._ No questions asked, no hesitation. Got it?"

Asuka snorted. "Oh, come on. As if you're in a position to give us orders, schoolteacher. Why the hell should we even listen to you?"

"Oh, gee, I don't know," the Doctor shot back. "How 'bout _nine hundred years_ of experience?!"

"Oh, please." Asuka smirked. "We done here, Misato?"

The captain rubbed her eyes. "For the moment, I guess..."

"Good." Asuka glared at the Doctor. "Get this through your skull, you delusional egomaniac. I'm not some little girl who needs protecting. I'm going up there, and I'm going to _win_ so hard the Angels won't ever come back for the fear of me. Live with it." She turned and swaggered off.

The Doctor sighed and watched her go, a glum look on his face. "Well... she's got moxie. Gotta give her that..."

Shinji nodded, even though he wasn't quite certain what moxie was. Next to him, Rei turned and walked off without so much as a word.

"Anyway..." The Doctor put his hand on Shinji's shoulder. "You. You watch yourself out there, you hear me?"

"Hey, don't worry about it." Shinji tried for a cocky grin. He couldn't quite pull it off. "Worse comes to worse, it's only the end of the world, right?"

* * *

><p>He made it all the way up to the entry plug before the usual terror kicked in. He rushed to the side of the catwalk and vomited over the edge into the Bakelite three stories below.<p>

"Um, ewww?" Across from him on the opposite gantry, Asuka wrinkled her nose in disgust.

Shinji smiled weakly and shrugged. He wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his plug suit and turned back to the capsule. Too late to run away now, he thought, his stomach sinking.

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

"Synchronization codes green," Lieutenant Hyuga said. "Hydraulic links severed. All units are go for launch."

On the monitors, the three Evangelions pushed themselves free of their restraints.

"Command, I leave the surface mission to you." Commander Ikari's voice echoed out through one of the console speakers, the drone of a diesel motor in the background. "I intend to lead the repair and security crews to reinforce the last-ditch measures at Terminal Dogma. The automated defenses there seem to be reporting a number of abnormalities."

"Roger." Misato shot a glance towards the Doctor. He didn't seem to notice. He stood a few paces behind her, his arms crossed, chewing his lip and staring up at the video feeds.

* * *

><p><strong>Access Tunnel CAROTID-12. 100 meters below the surface.<strong>

"Okay, Units One and Two," Lieutenant Hyuga said through the comm. "This is your stop."

Shinji's Eva stepped off the massive cargo elevator and into the absurdly large underground passage. He glanced back to watch as the steel platform - still bearing Unit Zero - continued upwards.

"From here, you'll want to follow the tunnel north until it dead-ends," the lieutenant continued. "Turn right. From there, we'll be in touch to give you further instructions."

"Roger that," Asuka said.

Behind them, a pair of concrete doors moved in from the walls to seal off the rest of the tunnel. They got halfway into place before the power cut out and they stuttered to a halt.

Shinji glanced over at Unit Two. Asuka glared back. "What?"

"So... um..." Shinji shifted in his seat. "... is the whole LCL thing freaking you out a little too?" Or a lot, he thought. He'd barely been able to keep himself from gagging when the liquid had flooded into the entry plug this time. For that matter, he could barely keep himself from gagging _now._ "Now that we know where it's from, I mean?"

She paused. "Well, it wasn't before you _said_ that."

"Oh. Um. Sorry."

"Look, just - let's just _move_, all right? No more talking." She stomped off down the tunnel. Shinji followed at a careful distance.

* * *

><p>Later, as they trudged through the labyrinth of Eva-sized corridors underneath the city, Shinji remembered something he needed to do.<p>

I'm sorry about this, he thought at Unit One, but I think we're going to need to fight again. He glanced at the battery display, currently in the process of cycling back and forth between 04:59 and 05:00 over and over again. I'll explain later, I promise, but it turns out that everyone's really counting on us. And I really mean _everyone._

So you'll help me again, right? I'm not just on my own with all of this, am I?...

He felt the Eva's right hand twitch.

Shinji felt a little smile spread across his face. A real one this time. Okay, he thought. Just one other thing to worry about. Because as much as he wanted to believe in the Doctor - as much as he _did_ believe - well... his plans didn't _always_ work out, did they? Shinji flashed back to the incident with the giant eyeball.

And besides, he thought, it just isn't fair to put it all on his shoulders. I have to try my best, too, don't I?... But what exactly does that mean? What should I do?

I mean, if he were here in my place... what would the Doctor do?

He triggered his comm link. "Um. Lieutenant Hyuga?"

"Makoto's fine, Shinji," the lieutenant replied, a hint of a smile in his voice. "Seriously. You really don't have to be formal at this point, you know?"

"Oh. Okay." Shinji filed that away for later. "So... Maya said the data links with the Evas were up, right? Could you show me a map of the city? Like, the part where we'll be fighting?"

"Oh! Sure. That information should already be in your Eva's onboard computer. Let me see if I can bring it up for you..." After a moment, a holographic map of the city sprang up in the corner of Shinji's vision. "There you go," Makoto said. "You can use the usual controls to page through the layers. You don't have much time, though. You're nearly at the exit point."

"Got it. Thanks!" Shinji zoomed in on the map. Where was it, he thought. What was he looking for? What did he need?...

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_I know, I know, kinda doing the slow build thing this time. We'll be getting down to brass tacks in the next update, promise._


	60. Deleted Scene: out for a walk

Episode 8: Double Event  
>Deleted Scene: out for a walk<p>

**Eva Proving Ground. The Geofront. The previous week.**

Shinji skidded the Eva to a halt as they passed the final marker. It was kind of a weird sensation, he thought. Feeling out of breath when he hadn't even been the one running.

"Nicely done, Shinji," Ritsuko said cheerfully over the radio. "You exceeded Unit One's maximum speed by ten percent."

Shinji blinked. "Huh? But if it's the maximum speed, how could -"

"We don't really know how fast Unit One is, Shinji," Maya said. "The maximum speed we listed in the specs is just an educated guess, based on its leg dimensions and what we know from Unit Zero."

"We've never had the chance to run actual time trials like this before, after all," Ritsuko added.

"Huh." Shinji scratched the back of his head. He supposed that made sense. He glanced around the entry plug, then at the wide grassy field Unit One stood in the middle of.

He wondered just how fast the Eva could really go, given the chance.


	61. Deleted Scene: tough questions

Episode 8: Double Event  
>Deleted Scene: tough questions<p>

**Command Center**

"So," Misato muttered to the Doctor as the Evangelions trudged towards the cargo elevator, "do you _enjoy_ wasting everyone's time on your own self-righteous moral dilemmas, or is it just something you do when the entire planet's at stake?"

The Doctor ignored her. "Those safety harnesses in the capsules - not much head support, is there? What's to stop them from getting whiplash or a concussion or something?"

She sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. I think the plug suit designs included a helmet at one point. I'd have to ask Ritsuko."

"Mmh." The Doctor scratched his chin. "So are you angry at me for taking your toys away for a while, or for giving in at the end and letting them go up there?"

She folded her arms. "What, I can't be both?"


	62. Episode 8 Part V

Episode 8: Double Event  
>Part V: Go Big or Go Extinct<p>

**Tokyo-3**

Shinji felt the Eva shake from the recoil as he pulled the trigger again and again. Bullets the size of artillery shells leapt out from the pistol in his hand as he emptied the clip into his target.

Asuka swatted him in the back of the head. "The hell is wrong with you?! Stop wasting ammo!"

"Oh - um - I - s-sorry." He fired one last shot into the ground. Glancing over his handiwork, he saw the gun had chewed through the pavement below his Eva. A deep, dark hole, large enough to swallow an eight-wheeler, extended down into the earth.

"Okay, looks like the targets have come to a stop," Misato said through the comm. "They're right over Access Point Magnum. Two blocks west, eight blocks south of you."

"Uh... got it!" Out of time, Shinji thought. He just hoped that was enough. He turned back to Asuka and tossed the pistol aside. It fell on and crushed a nearby Toyota parked on the street, immediately triggering the car alarm. He winced.

Unit Two pointed at the discarded pistol. "What, you're not taking it with you?!"

"Why? Guns never work."

She snorted. Her Eva hoisted a pallet rifle. "Whatever. Just don't come crying to me when you need fire support, Gandhi."

He tilted Unit One's head. "Wait. Wasn't Gandhi a boy?"

She growled and turned south. "Let's just go already..."

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

"Video coming in now from the fire teams, ma'am," Aoba said.

"Let's see it." Misato turned to the big board. The Doctor looked on from beside one of the other consoles, his arms crossed.

The creature on the screen seemed to Misato's eyes like a bizarre mashup of different insects and animals. Primarily, it resembled a spider, with four spindly legs springing up and out from a central body. The midsection, however, looked like a tortoise shell flipped upside down, its bottom covered with intersecting armored plates. From recesses within the carapace, at least a half-dozen eyes - actual moving, blinking blue-on-yellow eyes - stared down at the world.

"Can we get a wider shot?" she asked. Aoba nodded and made an adjustment.

The camera zoomed out to show the spider-thing positioned over a wide, armor-reinforced hatch in the ground. Access Point Magnum was in the middle of downtown, surrounded by buildings they didn't have the power to retract and bordered by one of the city's main highways. In the distance, Misato could see a giant humanoid shape skulking amid the high-rises.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit One. Six blocks north of Access Point Magnum.<strong>

"Hold up," Misato said. "You've got incoming. One of the Angels just broke off and is heading your way. Dig in and get ready for company."

"You heard the lady, Aerith," Asuka barked.

They hunkered down behind a large warehouse. Shinji dropped to one knee. Wish we didn't have to wait, he thought. I hate waiting. Whenever we wait, I wind up - ulp, yeah. Right on cue, his hands started to shake.

Ignore it, he thought. Focus on something else. "Um, command?" he whispered. "We're sure we've evacuated all the people around here, right?"

"We're positive, Shinji," Maya said softly. "Security's swept the entire district twice, and one of the UN choppers ran a thermal scan for us. There isn't a civilian within ten blocks of you or the Angels. I promise."

"O-okay. That's good." Shinji swallowed. He tried rubbing his hands together. It didn't seem to help the tremors. "That's good. Thanks..."

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

"You in position, Rei?" Misato asked.

"Yes, ma'am," the girl whispered through the comm. "Holding two blocks away from Magnum. Target in sight."

"Armor teams standing by, ma'am," Lieutenant Hyuga said quietly.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit One<strong>

The giant lumbered into view three blocks down the street. To Shinji's eyes, it resembled a gray, hunchbacked letter T. A pair of clawed, three-fingered arms hung down from the Angel's almost comically oversized shoulders. A bone plate protruding from the creature's chest - one half of it colored blue, the other red - was the closest thing to a face Shinji could see.

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

Now or never, Misato thought. "All Evangelions, fire at will!"

"Roger," Rei said. "Engaging target."

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit One<strong>

Here goes nothing, Shinji thought, his stomach twisting inside him. He clenched the Eva's hands into fists and rose to his feet -

And that's as far as he got before Asuka put five rounds straight through the Angel's face.

He stopped short. The Angel stood frozen in place, a hideous green liquid leaking from the holes in its chest. "... huh."

"See that, Third Child?" Asuka's voice practically radiated smugness. Unit Two flipped the rifle up and ejected the remaining shell out of the chamber. "_That's_ how it's done."

Shinji stared at the Angel. "Ummm, Asuka?..."

"A fight should be clean and elegant, without waste -"

"- Asuka, if it's dead, why's it still standing? Shouldn't it have exploded or disintegrated or -"

The Angel's body suddenly split straight down the center. As the two halves fell to either side, they each sprouted new flesh, fibers twisting into new limbs and muscle and organs, skins rapidly changing colors. Shinji heard Asuka shout a curse, and then the unfinished creatures were rushing towards them, shrieking in perfect unison -

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

"Oh, _come on!_" Misato slammed in her fist down on the console. "That is _so_ cheap!"

"Ma'am, it's Rei -" Makoto pointed at one of the other screens.

"- no effect, repeat, attack had no effect on target," Rei droned. "Target appears to be heavily armored. Switching to antimatter sabot rounds - stand by. Seeing movement on target's surface -"

On one of the video feeds, Misato saw a port slide open at the very top of the spiders creature's shell. A familiar bone-white mask - albeit with a much longer nose - raised itself out of the Angel's bulk, supported only by a thin sinewy neck. The head swiveled southwards, its eyes glowing with green light. "Rei! Dodge!" she shouted.

Rei was already moving. She rolled out of the way as a white-hot beam of energy swept through her position, slicing the building behind Unit Zero to ribbons.

"Armor units, lay down cover fire!" Misato yelled. "Rei, get to another position and try the sabot rounds!" She looked back. "Any time now, Doctor..."

"Three mippippippi," the Doctor muttered under his breath, his eyes wide, his focus entirely on the monitors. "Four mippippippi... Five..."

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit One. Tokyo Memorial Dome.<strong>

Shinji pulled the Eva out of the pile of rubble, rubbing the back of his head. Ow. He peered up at the large hole in the domed rooftop that he'd just made. He seemed to be in the middle of an indoor stadium. Oh, hey, baseball, he thought, noticing the well-groomed pitcher's mound next to the Eva's right toe. Didn't even know we had a baseball team here...

The front of the dome shattered as Unit Two flew through the walls and into the structure. Asuka landed on her feet, her Eva sliding backwards across the field. Shinji raised his hands and caught her as she stumbled into him. Unit Two, he noticed, held what was left of the pallet rifle in its hands, the barrel shorn cleanly in two. "Told you," he said.

"Shut up," she snapped. "And put up your AT field, they're right -"

The two Angels burst in through the roof, their eyes glowing crimson. A volley of energy beams - relatively weak but rapid-fire - slammed into Shinji's shield. He peeked out from behind the Eva's raised arms.

The pair of creatures landed in the stands. They were fully grown now, he noticed, and different colors to boot - one a cold white, the other orange. Otherwise, they looked identical to the original giant they had sprouted from, massive shoulders and all, with one exception: they each bore a revealed core on their chests, just below their bone masks.

The twins separated and prowled in opposite directions around the edge of the stadium. Shinji glanced at Asuka. Wordlessly, they stood back to back as the monsters circled.

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

"Twenty-two... left leg... right hand..." the Doctor muttered, still staring at the screens. "Divide by two... that can't be... no... wait. YES!" He suddenly shouted and slapped his forehead. "OH OF COURSE! Satapādaka's Ninth Principle!"

"Meaning?..." Misato asked.

"Meaning that with that pattern of limb motion and neuromuscular timing, Mistah Blackpool F.C. up there _has_ to be a single consciousness with multiple simultaneous forms!" The Doctor rushed to Makoto's station and feverishly mashed keys on the number pad. "Two bodies linked by a larger hyperdimensional structure! And if we _interfere_ with that link..." He turned to Makoto and pointed to the console screen. "Get ready to broadcast on these _exact_ frequencies! Every transmitter you can spare!"

"Roger!" The lieutenant went to work.

The Doctor flashed Misato a half-crazed grin. "One last thing," he said. "Won't be a mo." He dashed off into the back of the room.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit One. Tokyo Memorial Dome.<strong>

Shinji threw a punch. The Orange twin dodged it and slashed a claw across his face. The Eva's armor absorbed it, but the jolt of impact spun him around - right into a savage kick launched by White.

He landed in a pile somewhere beyond the right field wall. Picking himself up once more, he glanced over and saw Unit Two extract herself from out of a sizeable crater amid the bleachers. "Asuka... I don't think this is working..."

"Quit whining and fight!" With a yell, she launched herself back into the fray.

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

"Listen to me." The Doctor stared Vice-Commander Fuyutski in the eye. "This is _important._ No more holding back. Is this everything we have?"

"As far as I know, yes," Fuyutski said.

"Blimey." The Doctor sighed and turned back to the shelf. He disconsolately flipped through the discs again. "_Carmina Burana_... Beethoven... Handel... seriously, not even the White Album or something?"

"Don't look at me." The vice-commander folded his arms. "This is all Ikari's stuff."

"Frankie it is, then." The Doctor grabbed the album out of the pile. He rushed back to Makoto's station and slotted the disc into the external drive.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit One.<strong>

In the midst of lifting up Unit One by the neck, Orange abruptly screamed and doubled over. Shinji pulled himself free of the thing's claws and looked over to see White likewise spasming in pain - right up until Asuka gleefully kicked it in the face, sending it spinning into the seats beyond home plate.

Simultaneously, with a crackle of static, the radio let loose a tinny male voice, baritone and backed by a jazz orchestra:

_Fly me to the moon,_  
><em>And let me play among the stars...<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

"So... why the music, exactly?" Ritsuko asked amid the velvet sounds of _The Best of Sinatra._

"'S perfect for this." The Doctor watched the monitor as Shinji knocked down the Orange twin. "Regular beat messes with the organism's natural rhythms. But it's still mathematically random enough that it's hard to filter out."

"And... if I'm following all this correctly... we're transmitting this straight into the Angel's brain?" Maya whispered.

"More or less. Ever get a song stuck in your head? Imagine that times a billion multiplied by an ice cream headache."

"Wish I hadn't forgotten my player today," Aoba muttered. "Could've hooked you up with some Clapton, man."

The Doctor made a face. "Unplugged album would've been _perfect_ for this."

Aoba nodded. "Solid choice. I can respect that."

The Doctor raised his voice. "The effect won't last, though. It'll adapt sooner or later. This might be a good time to regroup, Captain."

"Agreed." Misato keyed her headset. "Asuka, Shinji, you hear that? I want you to pull back a block to the south."

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit One. Tokyo Memorial Dome.<strong>

"Are you _kidding me?!_" Asuka exploded. She brought her fists down on Orange. "I've got this now, Misato!"

"That's an _order_, Asuka," Misato said through the radio. "We need a plan to finish this. Set up some kind of coordinated attack -"

"- or maybe the opposite," the Doctor interjected. "If we can _separate_ the two bodies somehow - put some distance between 'em and make the Angel deal with two sets of sensory inputs at once -"

"- it'd slow it down even more?" Misato cut him off. "Good idea, but hold that thought. Point is, we need to talk strategy."

Shinji reached out towards Unit Two. "Asuka, come on," he said. "You heard -"

"_Here's_ a strategy for you!" Asuka thrust her knee upwards at Orange. It leapt backwards, dodging the blow. "Always press the advantage! Never let the enemy breathe!"

"Well, yeah, sometimes," the Doctor conceded. "But other times, it just makes them -"

Orange hurdled itself into the upper stands, landing next to its twin. Together, they fired up at the ceiling.

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

"- get clever." The Doctor winced as the dome's roof caved in on the video feed.

Fuyutski waved at Aoba to cut the room microphones. "Can we do something to discipline her? Maybe raise the LCL pressure in her plug?" he muttered. The Doctor eyed him.

Maya shook her head. "Asuka's always had those systems locked down. She could most likely override anything else we tried, too."

"She really does know Unit Two like the back of her hand," Makoto said.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit One.<strong>

Shinji pushed aside the large piece of metal sheeting on top of Unit One. As he stood up, Unit Two burst out of the rubble in front of him, Asuka spewing curses over the radio.

"Asuka," he said. "Come on. We have to go."

"No!" Asuka shouted, her voice on the verge of hysteria. "I told you! I _never_ back down from a fight! That's not who I am! I'd rather die, dammit!"

"But -" God, Shinji thought. How could someone so smart be so... so _this?_

Beams of energy tore through the haze of dust in the air. Shinji grimaced as the bursts slammed into his AT field. Above them, he could see the twins advancing towards them in a leapfrog pattern, throwing down fire as they leapt down from level to level.

Out of time. They had to go. He could only think of one thing to do.

He reached out and grabbed Unit Two's hand. "Asuka! Let's run!"

* * *

><p><strong>3 blocks north of Tokyo Memorial Dome<strong>

The security cameras pointed south picked up a sudden burst of light and a sound not unlike thunder.

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

Misato looked at the Doctor and Ritsuko. "So they can do _that_, too?!"

The two scientists looked at each other and shrugged.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit One<strong>

Shinji flew through the air and plowed into a small hill of half-melted steel girders. That had more or less turned out the way he'd expected, he thought. But he hadn't quite foreseen the _means._

"**YOU!**" Asuka roared. "**DON'T YOU ****_DARE_**** TOUCH** - oh." She noticed the field around her.

Unit Two's AT field extended around it completely in a perfect dome. Rather than the usual thin wall of light, however, Shinji could see two layers of glowing hexagonal patterns between Asuka and the world. Double shield, he thought, half-dazed. Huh.

Another salvo from the twins came down on their heads. The energy blasts bounced effortlessly off of Unit Two's shields like rain off an umbrella.

"Shinji, listen." The radio crackled to life with Misato's voice. "Asuka's tied our hands here. Just back her up as best as you can. We'll try to come up with something."

"Um," Shinji said. He watched as Asuka tried to step forward. Her shields wavered. She stopped moving, and the layers stabilized.

"Orders, Shinji," Misato said wearily. "Come on, don't you flake out on me too. We need you here."

The twins landed together in front of Unit Two. White was glowing, Shinji noticed. Crimson bolts of lightning leapt from its skin to that of its partner. Asuka instinctively raised her hands.

"Um." Shinji quickly stepped behind Asuka.

A massive burst of energy flooded out of Orange. It curved around Asuka's shields like water around a stone. Safe in her shadow, Shinji watched as entire sections of the stadium in the beam's path evaporated.

The beam vanished. The twins stood motionless. To Shinji's eyes, they almost seemed to be at a loss.

He glanced at Unit Two's back. This wasn't - he had to - Misato - no, wait, he thought. Stop. Think. I have to think. What should I do?

What would the Doctor do?

He swallowed. "Asuka," he said. "I-I'm sorry."

He turned and sprinted out the gap in the stadium's walls, as fast as the Eva's legs could take him.


	63. Episode 8 Part VI

Episode 8: Double Event  
>Part VI: Invaders Must Die<p>

**Inside Unit Two. Tokyo Memorial Dome.**

If only she had laser eyes, Asuka thought. Or heat vision. Or Firaga. Something - anything - that would let her shoot pure rage into Shinji's pathetic back. Or even better, just some way she could simply _hate_ the miserable little twerp to death. _With her mind._

Instead, all she could do was fling curses at Unit One's retreating form. "FINE!" she shouted. "Go ahead and run! You - you worthless, gutless COWARD! They shoot people like you on the battlefield, you know!"

He didn't respond. And to top it all off, now he was _ignoring her?!_ Of all the - _Unbelievable!_ She threw every insult she could think of at him, from the prosaic to the obscene. It took a while. She had ten different languages to go through, after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

The Doctor winced at the flood of what sounded like Russian coming through from Unit Two's link. "Ruddy hell. College or no, where does a fourteen-year-old girl learn _that?_"

Misato ran her hands through her hair. And here I am again, she thought. Watching a perfectly reasonable plan fall to pieces right before my eyes. "Shinji, listen to me. I know you're scared. But you can't just leave Asuka -"

"He can't hear you, captain," Aoba said. "He's shut off his comm."

Dammit, Shinji, she thought. "Is he at least heading towards Rei?"

"Negative," Makoto said. "Telemetry gives his heading as east-by-southeast."

Fuyutski leaned forward. "We still have full access to Unit One's systems, don't we?"

"Yes, sir," Maya said.

"Raise his LCL pressure, then," the old man said. "Slowly. Let's see if we can bring him back to his senses."

Makoto hesitated and glanced at Misato. She looked away. "Yes, sir," the lieutenant said. Reluctantly, he moved his hands to the safety unlock switches by his side.

Aoba's console sparked again. The lights on Makoto's safety controls went dark. "Oops," the Doctor said.

"Oh, for the love of - will you STOP THAT ALREADY?!" Fuyutski shouted. The Doctor calmly tucked the screwdriver back into his coat pocket.

"I don't like it either, Doctor," Makoto said quietly, "but we need Unit One in this fight. Without his support, we're liable to lose Unit Two. We can't just let him run away."

The Doctor shook his head. "He's not running away."

"It kinda looks like he is." Misato motioned to the video feeds.

"How the hell can you be so sure?!" Fuyutski glared at the Doctor.

The Doctor met the vice-commander's gaze. "Because," he said. "He's not a coward."

He looked away. "Even when, by all rights, he should be."

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit Two<strong>

Asuka felt her AT field vibrate. The twins were getting hands-on. Orange flailed away at her shield with its claws as if in a rage. White took a more surgical approach, pushing and tearing into the first layer with both hands at a single point. They were breaking through. She could feel it.

That horrible, miserable, worthless piece of human filth... h-how could he just leave her like this? Alone with this - with these...

... wait.

_She was alone with the enemy._ No one to hold her back. No stupid Shinji to get in her way. And best of all - _no one to share the credit._

A grin spread across her face. She triggered the secondary explosive bolts in her fin. Her progressive knife blew loose of its moorings and fell into Unit Two's waiting hand.

She stared Orange right in the... mask holes.

"So. Two against one, huh? Not exactly a fair fight." She put extra teeth into her smile. "Tell you what. This usually isn't my style, but... if you guys need me to hold back or something, just go ahead and beg for mercy, okay?" She extended the knife. "I might even listen. Maybe."

In the background, Frank Sinatra swung into "My Way." Asuka shut off her AT field and charged.

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

Misato rubbed her eyes. "Rei, report," she said. "Give me some good news."

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit Zero. One block northwest of Access Point Magnum.<strong>

"Would you like me to lie?" Rei asked. Given the context, that seemed like the most effective way to accommodate the captain's request.

The Angel fired again, this time at the armored personnel carrier positioned next to the shell of the building Rei was using as cover. She extended her AT field around the vehicle and deflected the blast.

The captain sighed. "Yeah, that's what I figured. Give it to me straight, Rei."

"The enemy has destroyed two combat vehicles thus far," Rei said. She glanced out from behind cover and surveyed the field. Most of the buildings around the Angel had been reduced to rubble. The highway bridge had thus far remained standing, as had the on-ramp to her southwest. "All sniper ammo variants have proven ineffective against the target. Have switched to pallet rifle. Attempting to close to hand-to-hand range. However, I am currently pinned down.

"In addition, target appears to be in the process of breaching the access point." She eyed the caustic liquid pouring down from the Angel's underside. Wherever it fell, the concrete and metal on the ground dissolved into a thick, noxious fog.

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

"Captain, we've been monitoring the situation," Ritsuko said.

"We've been seeing power fluctuations within our systems." Maya pointed to a readout on her monitor. "They seem to be occurring in time with Unit Zero's attacks."

"So it's cycling between protecting itself and draining our power," Misato said.

Maya nodded. "Just like the Loop Line incident. It seems probable that _this_ Angel is the one behind the blackout."

"What can you tell me about that goop it's shedding?" Misato asked.

"It's a highly corrosive acid," Ritsuko said, looking at the video feeds. "We've never seen anything like it outside of laboratory conditions. At the rate it's eating through our plating -"

"Wait, hold on." The Doctor broke in, his eyes wide. "You said acid. Are you sure? Do you know for a _fact_ it's an acid?"

"Well... yes, actually," Ritsuko said. "We had an embedded sensor package on the hatch report an acidic pH value before it went offline. Why?"

The Doctor grinned. "I've got it."

He rushed to the spare console, his hands dancing over the keys. "Knew I saw it somewhere around here," he muttered. "Here we go, here we go, first one..." Something flashed up onto the display.

Ritsuko went over and glanced over his shoulder. "Is that a fire engine? Don't remember seeing that in the motor pool..."

"Hohyes. And here's part two." A separate entry came up on the other half of the display.

"Oh." Ritsuko raised her eyebrows. "Well. That's... certainly _one_ solution..."

The Doctor looked at her. "Can you make it happen?"

She nodded. "I'll contact the tech crews."

"Brilliant." The Doctor turned away. "Tell them to bring it up to that western vehicle bay. I'll be right there!"

"Woah, wait, wait, wait -" Misato held up her hands. "You're planning to go up there _yourself?_"

"Hohyes." The Doctor pulled on his coat. "You coming?"

"What? _No!_" The captain put her hands on her head. "Doctor - listen, they need us _here_, not on the front lines. An army needs leadership just as much as it needs fighters. I mean - we're not in the feudal ages here, you know?"

"Listen to me." The Doctor looked her in the eye. "I let _children_ go up there. He asked me to help him fight for his home - but I still made that choice. And there's exactly one thing - just one - that's gonna let me look at myself in the mirror tomorrow. I will _never_ send them where I won't go myself."

He held out his hand to her.

Misato stared at his hand, then at him. She shut her eyes, shook her head, and growled deep in her throat. Then she tore off her headset and thrust it towards Aoba. "THIS! Can you monitor this remotely?!"

"Uh... yeah! Inside Central Dogma, anyway." Aoba tore open a desk drawer. He pulled out a plug and threw it to Misato. "Just use this to link it into the truck's radio when you get to the surface. I'll be able to patch you in from there."

Misato stuffed it in her pocket. "All right. Vice-Commander, if I may?"

Fuyutski rolled his eyes. "Feh. Do as you like, I suppose."

"Thank you, sir. Everyone, keep monitoring the situation! I'll be in touch as soon as I can." Misato glanced over to see the Doctor already rushing out the exit. "And, for God's sake, someone keep an eye on Shinji!" She ran after him.

* * *

><p><strong>Central Dogma<strong>

"_THIS!_" Misato hollered as they sprinted through the corridor. "This is the STUPIDEST THING I have EVER DONE!"

"Aww, don't say that, Captain!" The Doctor flashed her a grin and clapped her on the back. "Day's still young!"

* * *

><p><strong>Outskirts of Tokyo-3<strong>

The sign on the building still referred to it as a gas station, even though it consisted entirely of recharging stations and hadn't pumped so much as a drop of diesel since the day it was built. It briefly disappeared into shadow as something leapt over it and onto the adjacent highway.

* * *

><p><strong>Access Point Magnum<strong>

The enemy's blast clipped the side of Unit Zero's head. Rei ignored the pain and fired another burst from her rifle.

As she ducked back into cover, she noticed movement on the Angel's shell. Dozens of small figures crawled and wriggled their way out from behind the upper row of eyes, like maggots out of a piece of rotting meat. As she watched, they began to drop onto the ground below.

* * *

><p><strong>Emergency Vehicle Exit C1. Two blocks west of Magnum.<strong>

Misato sat in the passenger seat of the fire truck. As the vehicle elevator came to a halt and the sergeant behind the wheel - Misato didn't have time for names right now, so she'd just been calling him Eyebrows (because, seriously, this guy's were freaking _huge_, absurdly so, she had absolutely no idea how the hell he could even see past the things) - drove them off the platform, she pressed her headset closer to her ear. "Could you repeat that, command?"

"_Spiders_, ma'am," Makoto said through the radio. "The Angel over Magnum is deploying - I don't know - _baby_ versions of itself. Lots of them. We're guessing they're some kind of autonomous combat drone. They're heading for the breach in the armor."

"Divert additional internal security to the access point!" Misato snapped. She glanced in the rear view mirror and saw the Doctor strapping himself into a seat next to the water cannon on the fire engine's roof. "Tell Rei and the armor units to concentrate fire on them! We can't let them get into the access tunnels!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

The truck turned a corner and came to a large metal garage door, which immediately began to clatter open.

Misato found herself looking at a scene of pure pandemonium. At least a hundred creatures stood between her and the access point, skirmishing with various NERV vehicles and soldiers across the rubble-strewn battlefield. True to Makoto's description, the spider drones resembled the larger Angel that had spawned them - four legs, an armoured midsection, the same green-and-black color scheme. However, each one stood only about two meters tall at their highest point, and bore just a single blue-on-yellow eye on what she supposed was the front side.

As Misato watched, a pack of single-eyes advanced on the tank stationed ten meters away from the vehicle exit. The machine gunner on top of the Type 90 did his best to mow the creatures down, but two drones still managed to get through. They spat a hideous-looking green sludge from out of their eyes and onto the tank's front. The armor immediately began to bubble and melt.

So they even spit the same acid, she thought resignedly. Great.

"Erm, sorry," the Doctor said through the radio. Misato glanced back to see him holding a handset on a wire to his mouth. "Is this a good time to mention we're gonna need to be directly under the _big_ spider for this to work?..."

Misato took a deep breath. Then set her jaw.

"Sergeant," she said. "Switch places with me."

* * *

><p><strong>Outside Tokyo-3. East of the city.<strong>

The city government had planted a row of thin, sickly cherry trees here in a half-hearted attempt to shield the nearby homes from the noise of the highway. Something blurred past. A sudden wind rose up and bent the trees over double, tearing the leaves from their branches.

* * *

><p><strong>One block west of Access Point Magnum<strong>

The fire engine burst through a group of drones, scattering the creatures to either side. Misato turned the wheel hard right to skid around a large chunk of concrete in the street. Next to her, Eyebrows fired his shotgun from out of his open window. Another single-eye in their path collapsed.

They had a clear shot now. Misato jammed the gas pedal down to the floor. She heard the engine kick in. The truck rushed forward.

In front of them, right where she remembered it, there was an on-ramp to the highway above. Misato took the rise at full speed. Where the ramp turned to join the highway, she didn't.

* * *

><p>"<em>Really?<em>" The Doctor groaned and clung to his seat as tightly as he could.

* * *

><p>The fire truck rammed through the safety railing and off of the on-ramp. For a brief moment, it arched through the air. Then they crashed back down on the pavement - Misato heard what remained of the front bumper snap off and shatter beneath the wheels - and then she was dodging past the Angel's leg, underneath the gaze of its immense eyes.<p>

"Okay, Doctor!" she shouted. "I think this is as good as it gets!"

* * *

><p>"Right!" The Doctor swung the water cannon around. Looking up, he saw the source of the acid: at the very bottom of the Angel's body, another eye, slightly larger than the others, cried an unending stream of corrosive tears onto the hatch below.<p>

He aimed and slammed his palm down on the big button. A clear solution jetted from the end of the nozzle and raced up to meet the veil of tears.

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center. Earlier.<strong>

"So explain to me what that maniac is up to," Fuyutski said to Ritsuko.

"It's actually quite simple," the scientist said. "Before we sent that truck to the surface, the Doctor asked us to fill its tank with lithium hydroxide. It's a fairly strong base we use in the Evas' carbon dioxide scrubbers."

"Should that mean something to me?"

"Come, Commander. You were trained as a biologist, weren't you?" Ritsuko raised her eyebrow. "It's basic chemistry. Don't you remember what happens when you combine a strong acid with an equally strong base?"

* * *

><p><strong>Access Point Magnum<strong>

The area below the weeping organ exploded in a cacophony of heat and light - not to mention one or more incidental salts and probably some water, the Doctor thought, all depending on the acid's chemical composition, of course. Also, the surface of the eye ignited.

The Angel shrieked - an unpleasant, metal-on-glass sound that made the Doctor wince - and spasmed, its legs buckling underneath it. Or most of them, anyway. The leg closest to the truck rose off the ground and stabbed down straight towards them.

"Captain!" The Doctor shouted.

"I see it!" she shouted back, gunning the engine.

The fire truck rushed forward and out of the leg's way as it slammed into the ground, barreling through another crowd of drones in the process. Looking back, the Doctor saw the Angel raise the leg and put it down twice again in the same area. Wait, hold on, he thought as he reoriented the cannon. That's weird. Why's it doing that? Can't it see we've moved on? Well, granted, it probably couldn't through the bottom eye, what with the flames and all - but it's still got all the other ones, doesn't it?

Then, unfortunately, the question became moot. The Doctor looked up to see the Angel's bone mask thrusting down towards them on its long neck, its eyes glowing with - unless it was just his imagination - a particularly vengeful shade of red.

* * *

><p><strong>Outskirts of Tokyo-3<strong>

A number of unlucky residents had parked their cars in the open lot, reasoning that if they had to leave the shelters and evacuate further inland, it would be best to position their vehicles right next to the highway. The air over the exit ramp blurred. A sudden windstorm rose up, shattering windows and scattering the cars in the first few rows like ninepins.

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

Makoto quickly tabbed over the open windows on his console. He glanced over one and stopped short. "Wait - that can't be right..."

"What can't be right?" Fuyutski asked.

"Unit One's telemetry." Makoto furrowed his brow. "It's giving his current velocity as _Mach 1.2._ And _rising._"

* * *

><p><strong>Tokyo Memorial Stadium<strong>

Orange ducked under Asuka's punch and threw its knee into her chest. Hard. Asuka felt her Eva's ribs shatter.

This fight could be going better, she privately admitted to herself.

She staggered back over what remained of right field and put up the double barrier again. It wouldn't last long, she knew. They were learning. Getting faster at tearing her defenses down. As she watched, the twins fell back on their new favorite tactic. They focused their efforts on a single point. White blasted away at her from the back, while Orange tore into her shield with its bare hands.

Damn it. Everything hurt. Her body - or her Eva's body, whatever - kept freezing up when she tried to move. Her legs felt like noodles. She had fractures in both wrists, and she couldn't see out of her left eye anymore.

Come on, Asuka, she thought, get it together. She tried to steady her grip on the knife. Her fingers refused to move. Come on, you useless bitch. Stupid, pathetic little doll. If you can't do this, what the hell are you worth? Nothing, that's what. Less than nothing, even.

Not done yet. She couldn't be. She didn't want to die. Not like this, she thought. Not like this...

"ASUKA! GET DOWN!"

Without thinking, she immediately crouched down on all fours. Wait, she thought. Was that _Shinji_ -

Time froze.

She could see everything laid out in front of her with crystal clarity. The White twin, ever so slowly turning towards the east. And next to it, Unit One, hanging in mid-air, arms and legs extended, caught in the process of hurling itself towards the creature like a missile.

She stared at the tableau in honest disbelief. _H-he came back for me,_ a small voice inside of her head whispered, before she could quash it. _He actually came back._

Time unpaused.

White and Unit One vanished in a purple blur. The back of the stadium exploded in a shower of rubble. Then the sonic boom hit, shaking her Eva with the power of a hurricane, dragging in its wake a city's worth of debris and broken glass and dust, which flooded what was left of the stadium and choked the air like a desert sandstorm.

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

The room watched in silence as Unit One tackled the White twin out of the stadium, straight through the neighboring media skyscraper, across the street, and into the hotel complex that took up most of the next block.

"Dude," Aoba finally said.

* * *

><p><strong>Tokyo Memorial Stadium<strong>

Orange seemed confused. It swiveled around in the midst of the dust cloud, first one way, then the next. It finally turned to go after its twin...

... which was when Asuka stepped in behind it and hooked her arm around its shoulder.

"DON'T - YOU - **_DARE_**," she roared as she stabbed it in the back with her knife, right where the kidneys would be on a human, "**TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!**"

* * *

><p><strong>One block west of Tokyo Memorial Stadium<strong>

The next thing Shinji knew, he was in the midst of a half-collapsed building full of what looked like fairly expensive rooms, at least judging by all the gold leaf everywhere. He'd somehow wound up on top of White, and currently seemed to be in the process of punching it over and over again, all while screaming "STAY DOWN STAY DOWN _STAY DOWN_" at the top of his lungs.

Wow, he thought. I can't believe that actually worked. I really didn't think -

An energy beam lanced up from White and cut off Unit One's right arm.

Crap! Shinji tumbled off of the Angel and scrambled away on his three remaining limbs. He huddled on the other side of the building's remaining façade and glanced back. He saw White rushing back towards the stadium. Back towards its twin. And Asuka.

Oh, no, he thought. No no no no no. Stop it. Gotta stop it. Um - wall! Put up a wall!

His AT field flickered to life in front of White, cutting it off. The twin stopped short.

Okay, he thought. Now the thing with the spike!

_Three_ spikes - not just one, to his surprise - sprang out of the AT field towards White. The twin leapt backwards, twisting its body in midair to dodge each projection in turn.

And somehow, Shinji was ready for that. He charged out from behind the façade, yelling wordlessly at the top of his lungs, just as the twin landed. He swept up the only possible weapon he could see off of the ground and belted White with it as hard as he could.

* * *

><p><strong>Command Center<strong>

On the monitors, the White twin bounced off the street and into the indoor shopping center to the south. Unit One stepped back, hefting its makeshift club: its own detached right arm.

Aoba cleared his throat. "... dude."

* * *

><p><strong>One block west of Tokyo Memorial Stadium<strong>

Was that it? Shinji thought. Did that do it?

The building across the street collapsed. A deep bass rumble filled the air. A blast of energy flew out of the rubble and grazed Unit One's left shoulder.

Nope, that didn't do it, he thought as he ducked. He dropped the arm and put his AT field back into shield mode. He seemed to have the Angel's full attention now, at least.

So let's see if it'll follow us, he thought. He turned and ran north, away from the stadium. He glanced down at the map on his heads-up display. Come on. Just two more blocks to go. Just two more blocks...

* * *

><p><strong>Access Point Magnum<strong>

Misato swore as she saw the Angel's head descend towards them. She turned the wheel as hard as she could, knowing all the while it wouldn't be enough, it would never be enough -

Suddenly, the Angel shook with some massive impact. Its head jerked away. Misato looked in the sideview mirror and saw Unit Zero push into the creature's body with her shoulder, progressive knife held at the ready.

* * *

><p>So it can't see out of the upper eyes, the Doctor thought as the fire engine screeched to a halt. He absentmindedly sprayed down a pair of drones creeping up on them from the side. They obligingly tried to return fire and immediately burst into flames.<p>

Ergo, he thought, _those_ eyes don't work. Ergo, they're fake - either vestigial organs or even holograms. Ergo, they're probably decoys, like the eyespots on butterflies or those white patches on killer whales. Existing to confuse or pull attention away from some vital point -

_I believe the term you're looking for is "distractive camouflage,"_ his Sixth incarnation whispered smugly in the back of his head.

Yes, I know that, thank you, shut up, the Doctor thought impatiently. Ergo, if the eyes are decoys, there's something they're meant to be decoys _for._ Ergo, there's something that this fella _really_ doesn't want us to attack. Which must be...

He glanced at the Angel and took a wild - if educated, thank you very much - stab in the dark.

Up above, Unit Zero seized the Angel around the neck, forcing its head to tilt upwards. The Doctor picked up the radio. "Rei, listen to me!" he shouted, hoping that she could hear him. "If you get the chance - try attacking the eye on its bottom! The one that's, well, on fire. I think that might be the weak spot!"

"Understood," Rei said calmly through the speaker. "Jump."

"Jump? What do you mean, ju-"

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit Zero<strong>

The Angel bucked and swung out its neck, trying to throw Rei off. She allowed it to.

She landed on her feet, danced back a few more paces, then charged forward, firing the rockets in her fins for extra boost. As she approached the Angel, she leaned back - dodging beneath the hastily-aimed blast fired from its head - and _slid_ between its legs and underneath its body. Simultaneously, she reached for the fire engine -

* * *

><p>"JUMP!" the Doctor bellowed into the radio as Unit Zero's hand came barreling towards them like some deranged, five-fingered freight train. "EVERYONE OUT!" He unbuckled himself from his seat and took a flying leap off of the truck's roof.<p>

Before he even hit the ground, Rei snatched up the truck and shoved it - sirens and all - into the Angel's eye. Somewhere in the mess, the acid met the base. They reacted naturally.

* * *

><p><strong>Eight blocks northwest of Access Point Magnum<strong>

Somewhere in the distance, Shinji heard an explosion. Oh, God, he thought, his stomach twisting. Please let that have been the _good_ kind of boom and not the bad kind. Please.

He stumbled around the corner, back onto the block where he and Asuka had first arrived on the surface. Oh, hey, he thought. It actually worked.

The entire street in front of Shinji was flooded under at least half a meter of water. Somewhere underneath the surface, he knew, gallons upon gallons were being pumped out of the hole he'd blasted in the road - or, more specifically, the water main he'd destroyed in the process. He silently thanked whoever had thought to include a diagram of the city's pipes as a layer within the Eva's map.

At the next intersection, he could see dry ground just beyond a rise in the road. He sloshed across the impromptu pool. He had to get there before -

An energy blast struck him in the back. He staggered onto the high ground and fell, planting his face into the street. Turning his head slightly, he looked back just in time to see the White twin drop out of the air and land - right smack dab in the middle of the flooded block.

Time slowed down.

Shinji thought: Now! We've got to do it now!

He flipped the Eva over. In one motion, he tore the Doctor's fuel cell off his back and tossed it into the water.

Nothing happened.

Oh, God, oh, God, he thought in a panic. Did I screw it up?! I don't even know anything about electricity! What made me think I could do this without the Doctor's help?! I'm such a -

The White twin shrieked. Its body seized up. Sparks flew out from the streetlight down the block as enough electricity to power an Evangelion leapt through the water.

Move now! Move _now!_ With his one remaining arm, Shinji pulled the knife out of his fin and leapt at the Angel, screaming like a maniac. He stabbed the blade into the thing's core -

- where it went in just past the surface and stuck.

Oh, _come on_, he thought. As White reached towards his neck, its arms convulsing, Shinji took a deep breath and _headbutted_ the hilt of the knife as hard as he could.

The Angel exploded in his face. Followed almost immediately by what was left of the fuel cell.

* * *

><p><strong>Access Point Magnum<strong>

Misato sat up from where she'd landed after hurling herself out of the fire truck's door. She glanced over to see the Doctor and Eyebrows doing the same.

Looking up, she could see the remains of the Angel - meat and blood and a number of other fluids she didn't care to examine - drift slowly down off of Rei's AT field. Unit Zero lay on its side a short distance away, its arm spread over them protectively. Misato couldn't see any living single-eyes around them. In the distance, she heard the chatter of machine gun fire - hopefully the tank crews, mopping up the last of the drones.

"Um... soldier? Sorry, you've got a bit of a..." The Doctor tapped one nostril.

Misato looked over to see a very large, very fake eyebrow hanging from the sergeant's nose.

"Oh - um - they're -" The sergeant's face went bright red, from his chin up to his (actually quite average-sized) eyebrows. "... Sorry, ma'am. They're just until I get the implants."

Misato and the Doctor exchanged glances. Amazing, she thought. Two Angels attack at once - all sorts of revelations - I'm apparently working with an alien... and yet, somehow, this is _still_ the weirdest thing I've seen all day.

* * *

><p><strong>Nine blocks northwest of Access Point Magnum<strong>

Shinji lay on his back, inside his entry plug, inside his Eva - which, coincidentally, lay on its back in the midst of ruined buildings and rubble, exactly where the explosion had deposited it.

So this is what it felt like to have your arm chopped off. He'd been wondering why that hadn't been giving him more trouble. Just an adrenaline thing, he guessed - or maybe it was you, he thought at the Eva. Were you shielding me from the pain somehow? If you were, thanks. And sorry. About the arm. And the pain. Really sorry. But - yeah. They can fix that, right?

He felt the footsteps of something large approaching. He wearily looked up.

Unit Two trudged around the corner, covered in blood from head to toe. In one hand, she clutched her knife. In the other, she held Orange's bone mask, even though it already seemed to be dissolving into the usual gory mess. He could hear Asuka breathing over the radio - big, loud, unsteady gasps, without the slightest hint of control or poise.

She stopped a few paces from Unit One. For a moment, neither of them said anything.

"Elegant," he finally croaked.

"Shut up," she mumbled.

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_Mach 1.2 = 1470 km/hr = 913 mph. Just for the record._

_And yes, lithium hydroxide is a real thing. And it is really used in carbon dioxide scrubbers. - And it can be put into a solution with ethanol (a liquid) while remaining solid itself, at least according to my research. (Thanks to yog for reminding me of that particular detail.)_

_Oh, and a big thanks to Stardawn for responding to my request back in Part III. Anyone who wants to see the (quite impressive, in my personal opinion) results can find the link to her tumblr post on my profile._


	64. Deleted Scene: running commentary

Episode 8: Double Event  
>Deleted Scene: running commentary<p>

**Outside Tokyo-3**

The tricky thing about the Doctor, Shinji thought in the back of his head - or, at least, the small part of his brain that wasn't repeating _faster faster faster_ over and over like a mantra as the Eva sprinted down the highway and the world around Shinji turned into a single blur - was that he really did like to make it sound like he was a coward. That he always ran away from trouble.

Which he did, really. That much was true.

But while he might run away... the Doctor never left anyone behind, either, did he? Or no one that he could _help_, anyway. He hadn't left Shinji behind that night on the train. Or at any point since.

So maybe... Father's words weren't entirely right... or maybe just weren't the whole truth. Maybe it really _was_ okay to run away sometimes. Just so long as you were ready to run back, too, if people needed you.

According to the map, he needed to turn soon. Shinji felt time slow to a crawl. (He wondered what _that_ was about. He'd have to ask the Doctor later... unless... He thought at the Eva: are _you_ doing this somehow? If you are, don't stop. It's _really_ useful.) He started to angle Unit One to the left, back towards the city.


	65. Episode 8 Part VII

Episode 8: Double Event  
>Part VII: Apocalypse, Please<p>

**Express Access Elevator MEDIAN-T1**

The retrieval team said something about the train system having restart issues. Shinji was too tired to care. They herded him into a long, thin hallway and closed the door. He wandered down three flights of stairs and stumbled into the elevator he found at the end of the path.

He rested his aching head against the bulkhead. God. He needed... something to eat, to start with. Plus a nap. A _very_ long nap. Then maybe some time in the Zero Room... like, say, a month or so. He scratched his head and yawned.

Then someone threw an arm around his neck and yanked his head back by the hair.

"**Push. The. Button,**" Asuka growled in his ear.

... crap.

Shinji swallowed. He slowly reached out his hand and pushed the down symbol.

As soon as the door shut, Asuka immediately forced him down on his knees and put him in an underarm headlock. "YOU LEFT ME OUT THERE TO **_DIE_**, YOU MORON!"

"I d-didn't - Asuka, just listen -"

"And _what_, you just thought I'd let you get away with it?!" she snarled. "IDIOT! I knew how to kill with my bare hands before I got my first bra!"

"I w-was _trying_ to draw one of them away!" Shinji attempted to pull her arm away from his throat. "When it didn't work, I came back!" In retrospect, he thought, it probably would've helped if he'd actually said something beforehand. But explaining things while doing them was _hard._

"Oh, please! A likely story!" She tightened her grip. "Just admit it! You got scared and wussed out, didn't you?!"

"Well, no - I mean, y-yeah, sure, I was scared, but I -"

"HA!" She twisted her hips back and forth, trying to dislodge his hands from her arm. "And anyway - even if you _were_ smart enough to think of something like that, _which I doubt_ - what if they'd just _killed me_ while you were gone? Huh?! Did you think of THAT, Einstein?! What the hell made you so sure I'd even be _ALIVE_ by the time you came back?!"

"Oh, gee, I don't know," he snapped. "Because you're _you?!_"

The door slid open. They both froze.

Rei stepped into the elevator. She tilted her head. "I'm... not quite certain how to interpret these sorts of things," she said. "Is that intended as an affectionate gesture?"

"Huh?" Asuka said blankly. She glanced down.

At that precise moment, Shinji realized for the first time that the side of his face was pressed directly against Asuka's breast.

* * *

><p><strong>Elevator Shaft T1. 1 km below the surface.<strong>

Despite being more than five hundred meters away from the descending elevator car, the acoustic sensors at the midway point clearly picked up the distinct sound of a _slap._

* * *

><p><strong>Express Access Elevator MEDIAN-T1<strong>

Shinji gingerly rubbed the side of his face. Gah. Even his _teeth_ felt numb. Asuka stood as far away from him as possible, arms crossed over her chest, the color of her face nigh-exactly matching that of her red plug suit. Rei looked between the two of them curiously.

There was precisely nothing fair about a world, Shinji reflected, where he had to deal with this right after a combat mission. (He winced as sensation started to return to his face, all of it painful.) _She felt kind of nice while it lasted, though,_ part of him whispered inside of his head. Oh, God, no, he thought with a mounting sense of terror. Don't think that. Not here. She'll _sense_ it. And she knows where they keep the rifles now.

They spent the rest of the trip down immersed in an awkward silence. When the elevator doors finally opened, they found themselves on the top deck of one of the maintenance bays to the side of the Eva Cages. Shinji made sure to let Asuka exit first, then stepped out of the elevator.

The four-story room was full of people, he noticed. The catwalks were crammed with technicians, security troops (some of them sporting various cuts and wounds from the battle), support crews, engineers, scientists, administrators - just about every branch of NERV seemed to be represented. The room buzzed with the low hum of a dozen murmured conversations. No one seemed to notice the pilots' arrival.

Shinji was just starting to consider the serious question of which individual in the crowded room, if any, would be most likely to know the location of the nearest ramen cup or sandwich - or anything remotely edible, really - when, down in the lower catwalks, someone began to clap.

* * *

><p>"Oh, come on," the Doctor muttered as he put his hands together. "We're still here, aren't we?"<p>

Misato gave him a sour look - but, all the same, raised her hands and joined in.

* * *

><p>One by one, people turned and started to clap. The entire room filled with the sound of applause. Then with cheers.<p>

Shinji felt himself blush. He self-consciously rubbed the back of his head and looked around. Glancing to his right, he found himself watching as the largest, most genuine smile he'd ever seen on Asuka spread across her face. She stepped to the edge of the catwalk and tilted her head back, as if soaking the moment in. Behind her, Rei blinked and once again tilted her head to the side.

Shinji couldn't help smiling as well. He leaned against the catwalk railing. So, he thought, actual recognition, huh. He had to admit - as much as his body ached and his head still hurt - it did feel pretty good.

* * *

><p><strong>Near Access Point Magnum. 50 meters beneath Tokyo-3.<strong>

Away from the main tunnels, far from the security patrols hunting for stragglers beneath the access point, a lone single-eye hesitated on its way down an undocumented steam conduit. It vomited on a nearby grate, the metal dissolving into an acidic sludge within seconds, then skittered down the newly-opened side passage. The sound of its footsteps eventually vanished into the darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>The Geofront. Outside NERV Headquarters.<strong>

The Doctor and Shinji walked through the large grassy field that they'd been politely - if quite firmly - escorted to by a number of men in dark suits. They found Shinji's father there, flanked by Vice-Commander Fuyutski and Rei, waiting for them in front of a jumpjet on a helipad.

"NERV thanks you for your assistance with this matter, Doctor," Father said. Was it just Shinji, or did he seem kind of... cheerful? "If you enter this base again without my express permission, I do believe I shall have you shot."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "And you really think that'd be enough to stop me?"

"I'd be disappointed if it did. I believe you know the way out." With that, Father turned and strode towards the jet. The vice-commander followed.

Rei hesitated. She looked towards the Doctor, her expression unreadable.

"Rei! Come along," Father called.

She turned and walked after the commander.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside the jumpjet<strong>

The aircraft took off. Dodging beneath the monorail tracks, it headed for the exit point.

Fuyutski collapsed in his seat with a sigh. "Well. That certainly was humiliating on just about every level possible."

"Wait for it," the commander replied.

Rei stared out the window, looking at nothing in particular.

* * *

><p><strong>The Geofront<strong>

They strolled away through the fields, the men in dark suits shadowing them from a discrete distance.

"So," the Doctor eventually said. "That was your dad, huh?"

Shinji looked away. "Yeah..."

The Doctor opened his mouth.

Shinji held up his hands. "Look, I know what you're going to say. I know, all right? It's just... well..." He struggled for a moment, trying to find the right words, before giving up. "... h-he's my _father_, you know?"

"Yeah," the Doctor said quietly.

They walked in silence for a moment.

"So... do he and Rei spend a lot of time together?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh," Shinji said. "Yeah."

"And how do you feel about that?"

Shinji shrugged. "It used to bother me, I guess. Then I talked to her about it, and, well... she's Rei, you know? I don't really think she knows him any better than I do."

"And besides," the Doctor said, "it's not like there aren't _practical_ reasons he might wanna keep around a completely loyal, highly-trained martial artist with super strength."

Shinji paused. "You mean, like a bodyguard?... I hadn't thought of it that way."

"Well, there you go."

They walked for another moment.

"So... do you think if I trained, maybe...?"

"Yeahhhhh, _not_ really what I wanted you to take away from this conversation."

"Sorry..."

"Look, I know you don't want to hear this, but..." The Doctor hesitated. "I honestly can't tell what your father's game is at this point. He was one step ahead of me the whole time we were in there. Been a while since that's happened. And until I know what he's up to... I can't promise I won't have to stop him."

"Well... w-what if he doesn't have a game?" Shinji asked. "What if he isn't up to anything except... you know... his job?"

The Doctor didn't answer. He looked up at the jumpjet's contrail hanging below the Geofront's roof, a concerned frown on his face.

* * *

><p><strong>Secure Teleconference Room. NERV Matsushiro Secondary Test Facility. Some time later.<strong>

"And just how long did you intend to conceal this from us, Ikari?" the Frenchman growled.

Fuyutski uneasily shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he eyed the holographic monoliths that hung in the air before them. He hadn't expected the entire inner circle to show up this time - all sixteen members, in direct communication for the first time in years. The old men were usually meticulous about keeping things compartmentalized. This meeting was obviously more than business as usual.

"That was never my intention," the commander replied. "I merely waited until I had sufficient evidence to bring the matter to the circle's attention."

"That's not good enough, Gendo," the chairman said. "You should have told us about this Doctor creature the moment you first suspected his true nature."

The commander raised his eyebrow. "Shall I report _every_ potential situation or rumor that comes across my desk, then?"

"This is different," someone else rumbled from behind a voice filter - the American, probably, Fuyutski guessed. "There is no mention of the Doctor or his species within the Scrolls. He's a completely unknown factor."

"Is he? I wonder." The commander calmly adjusted his glasses. "If memory serves, the Qumran library mentions an unnamed 'teacher of righteousness' at certain points..."

"Those sections have no bearing on our mission and you know it!" the Frenchman snapped. "Why would you even bring up that mystical nonsense?!"

Gendo shrugged. "I am merely speculating."

Behind him, Fuyutski resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Dear God. Were the old men really _that_ blind?...

"Though the emergence of another player would be by itself cause for concern," Monolith Ten interjected, "we cannot allow it to distract from the even more pressing issues before us."

"Absolutely," the American agreed. "We stand on the verge of disaster. Our entire scenario is at risk."

"First Sahaquiel arrives out of sequence," the Russian said. "And now both Matarael and Israfel _at the same time?_"

"The Scrolls _explicitly_ state that the enemy will never commit two of its number to battle at once," the Frenchman insisted. "This behavior is completely outside our models."

"We've always known the Scrolls may be more of a rough guide to the enemy's tactics as opposed to a set procedure," Gendo said. "These recent events suggest this is indeed the case. For some reason, it seems that their plans have changed."

"But how is that even possible?!" The Frenchman sounded on the verge of tearing out his hair. "Given the source of the Scrolls' information -"

"Excuse me," Monolith Eight said calmly. It spoke without a filter - and with a woman's voice. British accent. A tone as cold as ice. Fuyutski raised his eyebrows. Interesting. He hadn't heard that _she'd_ gotten the nod to join the inner circle. "Not to spend too much time on speculation - but what if these problems are related?"

"How so?" the chairman asked.

"What if the enemy has detected this Doctor's interference somehow, and has updated their tactics in response?"

"Yes. I was just thinking that myself," Monolith Nine said.

Gendo tilted his head slightly. "I admit the possibility. However, one might question to what extent other factors might or might not have contributed -"

"With all due respect to your status within the organization, Commander," Monolith Eight cut in. "If there's even the slightest possibility that neutralizing him could deescalate the enemy's level of investment - shouldn't we take that risk before events spiral even further out of our control?"

Other voices in the chamber muttered agreement.

Gendo spread his hands. "Please allow me to make my position clear. I have no intention of advocating or interfering on the Doctor's behalf. I will back whatever judgment regarding his fate the circle as a whole might render."

"So why, then -" the Frenchman started.

Gendo raised a finger. "However - now more than ever, NERV's focus must be on the threat of the Angels. I intend to use the Doctor against them for as long as possible. To that end, in order to preserve the illusion of a working relationship, I must insist that any action taken against him must come through your own resources, not NERV's. I trust that this request does not seem unreasonable."

The muttering continued. From the sound of things, Fuyutski gleaned that certain members remained less than pleased.

"We have much to consider, and a great number of decisions to make," the chairman said. The tumult died down. "We should take the time to contemplate our course of action. Let us break for now. We will reconvene in six hours."

The monoliths vanished - all save for the chairman's.

"Be careful, Gendo," the chairman said. "If any of the circle detects so much as a hint of treason from you at this juncture, you _know_ how I'll have to respond."

Gendo narrowed his eyes. "I believe I made my loyalties quite clear to you a long time ago."

"Mmh. Just don't forget - the fate of a single child cannot possibly be weighed against that of all humanity."

"Of course."

The final monolith faded from view. The lights came back up.

"Well," Fuyutski said, "_that_ was different."

"They're panicking, of course." The commander shrugged. "The script they've invested their entire lives in is falling to pieces before their eyes. The stress is already making them irrational. Did you notice they delayed the meeting in order to avoid the traditional Sabbath day?"

Fuyutski raised an eyebrow. "Are any of them even Jewish?"

"The Frenchman's grandfather was, I believe. Not that it matters."

"If they're afraid, that's just going to make them even more dangerous." Fuyutski crossed his arms. "Like cornered rats."

"Mmh." Gendo pushed back his glasses. "How fortunate for us, then, that they already have a scapegoat."

Something clicked inside of Fuyutski's head. "You mean the Doctor."

"Of course." The commander stroked his beard. "The next move is to give him some clue as to their plans. We can go through that other one. They should be in contact through Katsuragi soon enough."

"So that's why you've been putting up with him," Fuyutski said. "You've been planning to play him off against the old men this entire time."

"Obviously."

"And what if the Doctor refuses to play the part you've assigned him? Say, for instance, he irrationally decides _not_ to make himself the enemy of just about every government on the planet."

"Ah, but don't you see, old friend? That's the best part."

Behind his gloved hands, Gendo smiled.

"Once he understands their plans - he'll refuse to consider any other option."

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_And that wraps it up for the first two-parter. Aside from the playlist I posted a long time ago, tracks influencing the past two episodes include:_

_- "Sick of You" - Cake [Showroom of Compassion]_  
><em>- "Mirror Mirror (White Trailer)" - Jeff Williams (feat. Casey Lee Williams) [Rwby Volume 1 Soundtrack]<em>  
><em>- "Category 5" - Ramin Djawadi [Pacific Rim Soundtrack]<em>  
><em>- "Double Event" - Ramin Djawadi [Pacific Rim Soundtrack]<em>  
><em>- "Canceling the Apocalypse" - Ramin Djawadi [Pacific Rim Soundtrack]<em>  
><em>- "Go Big Or Go Extinct" - Ramin Djawadi &amp; Tom Morello [Pacific Rim Soundtrack]<em>  
><em>- "Invaders Must Die" - The Prodigy [Invaders Must Die (Bonus Track Version)]<em>

_Until next time, space cowboys and -girls._


	66. Prequel to Episode 9

Prequel to Episode 9

**Secondary Dogma. October 2015.**

_Let's see if you can spot this one..._

Shigeru Aoba hit the MP3 player's pause button just before the One and Only Mr. Eric "Slowhand" Clapton started into "Layla." (As in, _precisely_ between the introductory line and the very first note of the song. Shigeru didn't believe in much, but there was one principle that he prided himself on following with all the fervor of a true zealot: you _do not_ interrupt a master at work.)

He pulled off his headphones and called out, "Hey! Anyone here?" His words echoed through the huge warehouse. He didn't hear a reply.

Oh, come on, he thought. They weren't just going to call him all the way down here and not show up, were they? He couldn't be in the wrong place. The message had said to meet the maintenance team by the chairs. These were the chairs, weren't they? He glanced over at the sizeable pile of office chairs next to him, all of which some bigwig had apparently deemed worthy of surviving the apocalypse.

What a pain. He wouldn't even have shown up if the text hadn't come from Junior Comm Tech Matsumoto, one of the loveliest - not to mention famously well-endowed - ladies on the NERV payroll. She'd been kind of flirty with Shigeru that one time at the staff Christmas party. He hadn't been able to follow up on it back then - he'd kind of been in a thing with a bandmate, who'd since decided to stay evacuated with her aunt over in Nagato Prefecture - but now... well, you only live once, right? Especially these days...

He glanced down at his phone. No new messages. Instead, the display reported that he'd left the range of the nearest signal relay and the phone had been temporarily disconnected from the network, sorry for the inconvenience...

... which was a problem. And not just because Matsumoto might've sent a second text.

Aoba knew for a fact that he shouldn't be seeing that message. He should still be connected, even out here in the boonies. He managed communications for the entire Geofront. There _were_ no dead zones on base - or, at least, none that he didn't know about.

So... something here was wrong. Maybe even very wrong.

He slowly reached behind him and pulled the handgun out from the small of his back. He didn't usually carry it with him - hadn't even touched the thing since training - but he'd heard that some of those spider drones from the last attack had made it through the access point, and Shigeru had never considered himself the type to be slow on the uptake...

"Hey!" he barked. "If there's anyone out there in an _onryo_ costume or something - don't screw around with me, all right? Because - not gonna lie - I kind of might shoot you in the face here."

Again, he heard no response. He darted his eyes over the silent room, wondering if he should start feeling like an idiot.

The lights in the front of the room flickered off.

Followed by the row after that.

Then _all_ the overhead lights went out...

Yeah, okay, Shigeru thought. _Fuck_ this.

He took off running, gun in hand, straight towards the elevator. Something dropped to the floor somewhere in the darkness up ahead of him. He fired a wild shot in the direction of the sound and dodged down a row of shelves. The headphone wire caught on something. He felt the player dislodge itself and fall out of his jacket pocket. Leave it, he thought. Can't worry about that now. Sorry, Eric...

He skidded to a halt and raised the gun.

He could see a tall figure, outlined by a dim light, standing at the end of the row.

Aoba stepped forward, doing his best to keep his hands steady. He failed miserably. "Hands in the air!"

A blue light on the figure's chin flickered. "EXTERMINATE."

Aoba blinked. "What?"

He felt a metal hand close like a vise around his shoulder.


	67. Episode 9 Part I

Episode 9: Where Angels Fear to Tread  
>Part I: Rollin' and Tumblin'<p>

**B-22 Special Express Car Train. The Geofront.**  
><strong>October 2015.<strong>

"I mean, I really don't think I'm being unreasonable here," Misato said.

Shinji suppressed a sigh and looked up from his book. Misato sat next to him in the driver's seat, her finger tapping out an uneven rhythm against the steering wheel. Behind his head, he heard the pile of storage boxes, blankets and other junk that filled the back seat shift.

There was, naturally, only one possible answer. "Well, yeah. Of course not."

"Actions have consequences in this world." Misato waved her hand. "It's just that simple."

"Sure."

"I mean, we're trusting you two with machines that are worth more than entire countries. We literally cannot afford to have either of you going rogue on missions. Not anymore."

"I said I was sorry."

"I know you did. And I believe you. I just -" She let her hand drop. "I need to know that both of you understand the stakes here. I know we've gotten lucky in the past, but we _have_ to work as a team here. The entire world is depending on us."

"I get it, Misato. Really." Especially the part where _I'm_ not even the one you need to be saying this to, he sullenly added in the back of his head.

"Look, could I just ask a question here?" the Doctor said from the back seat, his voice muffled by the pile of items on top of him.

"_No,_" Misato answered forcefully.

"I really don't think it's going to help, Doctor," Shinji said. "Sorry."

The train pulled up to the Central Dogma station. Shinji picked up his gym bag and opened the door.

"And it's right back to the apartment after you're done here, you hear me?" Misato pointed her finger at him. "We'll never hear the end of it otherwise."

"Yes, ma'am."

"You're not just stonewalling me here, are you? I can tell, you know."

Shinji held up his hands. "I'm not - I don't even know what that means."

"Oh, for pity's sake," the Doctor grumbled. "Just let the boy go."

Misato's eyebrow twitched. "You _do_ understand that you're going to get shot if somebody hears you, right?"

"Less 'don't understand,' more 'actively considering whilst being crushed to death,'" the Doctor replied. "Not to sound critical, but do you really _need_ all of these mail-order catalogues?"

Shinji sighed and got out of the car. This is it, he reminded himself as he closed the door. This is the life I said I wanted.

* * *

><p><strong>Secondary Dogma. Storage Block 6, Level 3, Room 5.<strong>

"- and was it _really_ necessary to put the big guitar amp right over my chest?" the Doctor asked as the elevator door opened.

Misato narrowed her eyes. "Depends. Did you ever actually intend to remove it from my apartment?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Well, _eventually..._"

"Uh-huh. There's your answer, then."

The Doctor looked around as they walked out of the elevator and into the room. "Well! This is a nice change."

The cavernous warehouse space in front of them looked more like an art gallery than a military base. Shelf upon shelf of various artworks, set up and neatly labeled for display, extended to the back of the room.

"Got to hand it to your decorators," the Doctor remarked. "You must put all the other secret underground bases to shame."

"Welcome to Secondary Dogma." Misato set down the paper grocery bag in her hands. She pulled her handgun out of it and checked the safety. "It's mostly warehousing and support services down here. Since we have an excess of storage capacity, NERV's been allowing the regional art museums to store, quote, culturally-significant artifacts, unquote, free of charge. So we're stuck with all this junk for the time being."

"Awww, I wouldn't call it _junk._" The Doctor waved his hand over the paintings and sculptures around them. "You've got the artistic legacy of the entire planet represented here! Van Gogh, Ravi Varma, Edouard Manet, the Dutch Finjschilders... there's the Tokyo museum copy of Rodin's _The Thinker._ Ooh! And that looks like the Anubis shrine from the tomb of Tutankhamin! Haven't seen that since I helped Howard Carter dodge the mummy's curse... well, less mummy, more ancient alien disguised as a mummy... or as the liver of one, anyway..."

"Fine. _Expensive_ junk, then." Misato slotted the pistol into the holster under her shoulder.

He eyed the gun. "But I'm gonna guess you didn't bring me down here just to get my opinions on French impressionism."

"It's not my highest priority right now, no." She took out a large metallic flashlight. The armory boys claimed it could double as a police baton in a pinch. Feeling the weight of the thing in her hand, she could believe it. She switched it on and off to check the batteries, then put it to the side. "Since the blackout, we've had nine disappearances reported in this area. The most recent was one of my subordinates. Remember Lieutenant Aoba from the other day?"

"Not the chap with the long hair, was it?"

"Afraid so."

The Doctor sighed. "And I liked that one, too. He knew how to ask questions."

"Better yet, he knows when to _stop_ asking them, too." He turned away to examine an oil painting of a young man in a red jacket. She took the opportunity to pull the final item - her powder case - out of the paper bag and check over her makeup in the mirror. "Anyway, the MAGI didn't find anything unusual in the surveillance feeds. I've ordered the cameras shut down for automated testing. Security did a basic search, but they're stretched too thin hunting down spider drones to put together a proper investigation."

"So that's how we're getting around the me-being-shot thing. Brilliant. I like not being shot." The Doctor yawned and stretched one of his arms. "So. Where do we start?"

"According to the badge access logs, Aoba came to this exact room two nights ago." Misato snapped the compact shut and pocketed it. "I figure we search this level, then go down floor by floor from here. That work for you?"

"That works for me." He turned back to her and grinned. "Lead the way, Captain."

* * *

><p><strong>Aramaki Station. Tokyo-3.<strong>

The first thing that Makoto noticed about the woman was her hair. It was an unnatural, almost neon shade of purple. Something about the texture made him think of plastic or nylon. Yet it didn't look like a wig.

Past that, of course, there was plenty to look at. The words "statuesque" and "actress-level beautiful" came to mind, though there was a hard edge to her face that Makoto couldn't quantify. Then there was her outfit, which leapt straight past ludicrous and verged on the pornographic. She wore a kind of low-cut, strapless white leotard under a black leather jacket, supplanted by a set of ridiculous-looking thigh-high boots and a pair of thick-framed retroish sunglasses. The woman leaned against the back wall of the train station, sticking out amid the crowd of uniformed NERV employees like a _Cutey Honey_ cosplayer in a military parade.

Oddly enough, it took him a second or two to register that all four of her limbs were clearly artificial. He'd heard of cybernetic implants and prosthetics, of course, but he'd never seen ones like these before - gleaming, streamlined chrome lined with jet-black plastic, an industrial designer's dream come true.

It took another second or so for it to finally occur to him that he was standing in the middle of the busy platform, gaping across the station at her like some idiot fish on a hook. He coughed in embarrassment and looked away, nervously shuffling his feet and adjusting his grip on the pile of freshly-laundered shirts in his hands. At least he seemed to be far from the only one in the crowd staring. He wondered if she was part of some kind of publicity stunt or something.

When he looked back up, the woman with plastic hair was staring right at him. Coldly and without expression.

Something about this felt very wrong, Makoto thought. He'd never seen someone with implants openly walking around the city before, much less someone who looked like a cyberfetish model straight out of a magazine. Not to mention the pure improbability of someone like _him_ being picked out in the middle of the crowd by someone like _her._ And there was something about her gaze that made him feel like a bug on the wrong end of a microscope.

She pushed away from the wall and strode towards him.

A cold sweat broke out on the back of Makoto's neck. Don't panic, he thought. Don't. He tried to look casual as he turned and hurried away from her, towards the station's other exit.

* * *

><p><strong>Secondary Dogma. Storage Block 6, Level 3, Room 1.<strong>

"So," the Doctor asked after one or two rooms filled with plastic dummies wearing ceremonial kimonos, "how fares the home front?"

Misato groaned and slumped her shoulders. "Urgghhh. I honestly have no idea what to do with either of them."

"That bad, huh."

"At least Shinji apologizes for the stuff he does. And he _seems_ to honestly mean it. Even if I can't seem to talk to him these days without channeling my mother." Misato shook her head. "But Asuka... gah. It's like I can't establish any kind of discipline without feeling like a tyrant."

"Mmh. So where is the terror of Heidelburg today?" The Doctor paused to examine the stitching on a seventeenth-century furisode.

"Sulking back in the apartment. I confined her to quarters for the weekend. Shinji, too, technically."

He raised his eyebrows. "Both of them? What for?"

"What do you think?" Misato shot an irritated glare at him. "They both disobeyed orders on the last mission."

"Oh, come on. They won, didn't they?"

"That's besides the point!" She crossed her arms. "Things can't go on like this. We're dealing with things that even adults can't wrap their heads around. What chance do you think they have if they keep acting like... like..."

The Doctor eyed her. "Like teenagers?"

"Exactly!" Misato tossed her head. "And don't give me that look. You know I'm right. If they don't learn to follow orders, there's going to be trouble. We can't expect Shinji to pull off a miracle every battle."

He held up his hands. "All I'm gonna say is, a certain amount of independent thought is never a bad thing."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course _you'd_ say that..."

"They're smarter than you think they are, you know," the Doctor countered. "And that's before you link them into creatures with brains the size of minivans."

"And I know that. I really do. But -" Misato stopped short. "Wait... are you suggesting..." Her mind raced. "You - you think that the kids might actually be _smarter_ when they're piloting? Because they can use both their own brains _and_ the Eva's at the same time?"

The Doctor grinned at her. "Didn't think of that one, did you?"

"Yeah, yeah, shut up." She looked away before the urge to punch him became overwhelming. "Is this something you know for sure, or -"

"Oh, it's just a guess. But still - you called the things Shinji's been doing miracles, didn't you?" The Doctor waggled his hips from side to side, his grin deepening. "What if they're not? What if those children can see things that all your assembled hordes of scientists can't even _begin_ to imagine?" He paused. "Well - 'cept for me, of course."

She shook her head and walked past him. "You just think you're _so_ smart, don't you."

"Oh, I don't just _think,_" he replied as he followed. "I'll have you know I've got a signed testimonial from Albert Einstein himself! Though, admittedly, I only got it off him 'cause I beat him at arm wrestling and the bar was out of schnapps..."

"Look, even if what's you're saying is true, it's not their intelligence I'm worried about," Misato snapped. "It's their _judgment._ All the brain cells in the universe won't stop them from doing something stupid."

"All right, all right, I'll grant you that..."

They crossed into the next room, this one focused on the stage costumes of J-pop stars from the early nineteen-eighties.

"Hold on a mo," the Doctor said. "If they're both grounded, what was Shinji doing in the car?"

"Oh, he asked permission to go onto base. Something about combat training."

"Really?" He raised his eyebrows again. "With who?"

* * *

><p><strong>Central Dogma. Fitness Center S2.<strong>

Shinji bit his tongue to keep himself from screaming. To say that his arm hurt would be a massive understatement. His arm _was_ pain. Having it broken hadn't hurt this much. Getting the Eva's limbs _chopped off_ hadn't hurt this much. Well, okay, maybe that wasn't entirely true, but still...

"You must relax." Rei stood above him, bowing slightly forward, her arm locked above the back of his elbow. Simultaneously, she pressed his hand against her shoulder.

Shinji swallowed. "T-trying..."

"You must relax," she repeated. "The more tension you have in your muscles, the more pain you will experience."

"Oh... okay..." Relax, he thought wildly. Relax. Somehow, that didn't seem to help.

Rei bent forward a little more. He whimpered. "Also," she added, "when the pain exceeds your capacity to bear, you should tap your hand against the mat."

Shinji immediately slammed his palm against the floor. Repeatedly. She stood up straight again. "You - you could've mentioned that sooner," he gasped.

"I apologize." Rei adjusted her grip on his arm. The next thing he knew, he was pulled off his knees and flying through the air, just a centimeter or so above the mat...

Five seconds later, he flopped over onto his back, sweat pouring off his brow. Mentally, he cursed the protagonists of every shonen fighting anime he'd ever seen. All that training those bastards went through... how the hell did they make it look so _easy?_

Rei bent down over him. "Do you require medical attention?"

"I... uh..." He had to stop and think about it. "No... I don't think... no."

"That is good." She looked down. "As I mentioned, I have never trained anyone before. It may be better for you to find another teacher."

"N-no, no... it's okay..." He tried to wave his hand. He didn't really have the energy, though, so it just sort of flopped by his side. "It's - um - it's just... is this really going to teach me how to fight?"

"Yes," she stated.

"... how?"

"In order to learn to defend against an attack, one must first understand the perspective of the attacker," Rei said. "Only then will one be able to predict how an opponent will respond to a given counter, and thus, how to guide those reactions in such a way so as to work to one's advantage.

"The root of all self-defense is understanding. By receiving pain, one realizes the pain of one's opponent as if it is one's own. It is within that bond - the bond established by common suffering - that one finds the balance necessary to guide a fight to its conclusion. Do you understand?"

"Huh?" Shinji realized he must've zoned out. He found himself staring up dumbly at Rei.

"I may not have explained it very well. I'm sorry."

Or, to be specific, at Rei's chest. Shinji felt himself blush. He glanced away. "N-no, no, it's okay, really..." It occurred to him that, if muscle stiffness and being relaxed and all that really was so important, maybe being around Rei wasn't the right way to go...

He shook his head and tried to force his brain to catch up. "So... um... what you're saying is... if I want to learn how to fight, I have to get beaten up a lot?" If that's the case, I should be a master by now, he thought.

Rei tilted her head. "... I suppose that's one way of looking at it."

It can't be helped, Shinji thought. He sighed and pulled himself off the ground. "Um... so... c-could I try that again, please?"

* * *

><p><strong>Secondary Dogma. Block 6, Level 6, Room 5.<strong>

"And you're really nine hundred years old?" Misato eyed the Doctor skeptically as they rounded the next corner. He sure as hell didn't _look_ that old. "In - I don't know - Earth years, or whatever?"

"Nine hundred and change," he said cheerfully. "Pretty sure, anyway."

"What do you mean 'pretty sure'?"

"Well, you know how it is - things get busy, you forget a few birthdays..." He stopped short and grimaced. "Eughhh."

"What?"

"That's _honest._" The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "That's really very honest."

Misato narrowed her eyes. "So?"

"I'm never that honest. Especially about _that._" He examined his reflection on a particularly shiny file cabinet. "Hope I'm not coming down with something. Can't be a truth plague - I'd be projectile vomiting by now." He stuck out his tongue.

Misato sighed. "Has it ever occurred to you that honesty in a working relationship might not be a bad thing?"

"Well, it's not like I'd lie to you about something _important._" He paused. "Probably."

She threw her hands in the air.

"I'll tell you this much, though. I'm not over a thousand yet. Can't be." He held back his hair and carefully inspected his hairline. "A thousand's just _old_... wait." He sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?"

Misato glanced around and shook her head.

"Bleckkk. That's foul." The Doctor paced down the rows further in the storeroom. He glanced around the contents of the section, mainly heavy lockers and closet-sized safes. "What's all this, then?"

Misato tried to recall the block manifest. "Uh... security storage, I think. Extra supplies for guards and police."

"What kind of supplies?"

"Low-grade materiel. First-aid kits, spare body armor, nonlethals, stuff like that. No weapons or ammunition - they keep those in the armories."

"Think it's coming from here..." The Doctor stopped by a heavy safe the size of a large wardrobe positioned against the room's wall. He started to reach for his coat pocket, then hesistated. "Wait... hold on..."

He took ahold of the door and pulled. It came straight off of the safe. The hinges were gone, Misato noted, appearently shorn clean off. Then the stench - like rotten meat and spoiled eggs all at once - hit her like a shotgun blast to the face. She blanched.

The Doctor pushed the door to the side. They looked into the safe. The interior was completely empty...

... except for the willowy leg of a spider drone, snapped in half like a twig, strips of tendon and flesh still hanging from one end. Misato could also see a wide hole in the back of the safe, extending straight through the wall behind it and into darkness.

The Doctor glanced back at Misato. "You know what's next, don't you?" he asked quietly.

She nodded and pulled out her gun.

* * *

><p><strong>Level 6 Central Crawlspace<strong>

They crawled through the hole in the wall into what looked to Misato like a hidden maintenance area for the elevators. Large steel frames for each shaft ran from the roof to the floor, supported by a thick web of pipes and cables. Years of dust hung in the air, along with that hideous reek.

The Doctor ran his hand over the edge of the hole. "Looks like it melted its way in from this side," he muttered.

He took a step forward. Misato reached out and caught his elbow. "Watch it." She ran the flashlight over a trail of a thick greenish liquid that stretched across the floor.

"Good eye." He pulled what looked like a tiny metal top hat - a piece from a board game, she supposed - from his pocket and dropped it into the bile. It immediately began to fizzle. "More acid, I'd reckon. Lower concentration, though."

They continued into the room, toeing their way around the ichor trail and the plumbing and the various cables that ran from wall to wall. The Doctor held up his hand. "One second." He cracked a glowstick and tossed it into the darkness in front of them, over a large air duct that the beam of Misato's flashlight couldn't quite get past.

In the back of the room, just past where the glowstick had landed, Misato could see the drone's carcass, flipped on its back and motionless. Two more severed legs lay next to it, and several of its armor plates had been ripped off. Acid leaked down onto the floor from the gaping socket where its eye had once been.

* * *

><p><strong>Block 6, Level 6, Room 4<strong>

They stopped for a breather in the next room. "I'll tell Security about the body." Misato rubbed her eyes. Gah. They were still watering from the smell. "Once we're done here, I mean."

"Your scientists must've done autopsies on the drones from the battle by now." The Doctor leaned against a partition fashioned from plastic sheeting and metal supports that ran across the full length of the room. "Any idea how much force it would take to pull off one's legs like that?"

"No." She glanced back at the door behind them. "But I remember them staying in one piece when I hit them with the truck..."

He nodded somberly. "We have to be careful from here on out."

"Any ideas yet?"

"One or two." From the look on the Doctor's face, the ideas obviously weren't pleasant ones. He stood up straight and looked away, his eyes staring out into the distance.

A hand burst through the plastic sheets and grabbed his wrist.

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_Finally back at it. Busy month._

_Man. I really thought that last episode would finally net me my first Moment of Awesome over on the tropes page. Guess I'll just have to try harder next time..._

_I came across some web traffic a while back that suggested there might be some interest out there in a Korean translation of this story. I can't be of too much help there, I'm afraid. But if anyone wants to have a go at it - and needs an explanation of what I'm trying to get at in a particular section or something - please feel free to message me and I'll do what I can._


	68. Deleted Scene: Then the jagged edge

Episode 9: Where Angels Fear to Tread  
>Deleted Scene: <em>Then the jagged edge appears<em>

**Commander's Office. Central Dogma. NERV Headquarters.**  
><strong>Several days prior.<strong>

Misato walked into the vast office and strode across the marble floor, her heels clicking with every step. God, the size of this place, she thought, as she invariably did whenever she came here. Rank had its privileges, sure, but taking up an entire floor for one's own personal office seemed beyond ridiculous. She shoved the thought to the back of her head; she had bigger fish to fry today. She halted in front of the commander's desk and gave him a stiff salute.

Commander Ikari sat with his back to her, gazing into the sunset's harsh red light through the glass wall. For a moment, Misato wondered if he had even heard her come in. Then he asked, "Yes, Captain?"

"Permission to speak freely, sir."

"Mmh. Granted, I suppose."

Now came the hard part, she thought. She had to be careful here. One wrong move, and... well. She licked her lips. "With all due respect, sir, I would like an explanation. As Director of Tactical Operations, I am required to have a full understanding of the battlefield environment in order to formulate effective defense plans. Why was I not informed about Lilith earlier?"

"You _were_ told that Terminal Dogma was to be defended at all costs, were you not?"

"That isn't good enough, sir," she snapped before she could stop herself. Come on, keep it together, she thought to herself. It's not just the job that's at stake here. Think about the kids. "That is - a clear understanding of the enemy's objectives could have made a huge difference in our choice of strategies in the past. Not to mention the frankly massive risk we take by having this creature at our backs. What if it goes out of control?"

"Lilith is not an active threat to us, Captain. I state that with complete confidence."

She narrowed her eyes. "With all due respect, sir, how can you be so sure?"

"You don't need to know the details. Suffice it to say that... _arrangements_ have been made."

Oh, yeah, she thought bitterly. Because that sort of thing worked out _so well_ for us back during Second Impact, didn't it? "Even if that's true, sir, I'm still puzzled as to why this information has been kept secret from the world, much less our own people. It seems to me it would be more to our advantage if the public at large knew about Lilith. As it is, we have to struggle for funding against domestic priorities. If everyone knew for certain just what was at stake here, wouldn't they give NERV their full support?"

The commander sighed. "Would they really, Captain?"

"Sir?"

He turned to face her. "If the existence of Lilith became generally known among the public, then so inevitably would the decades of scientific research on her. Which would in turn lead to the revelation that many individuals knew about the Angels long before the attacks began in earnest. Such as your father, for example." Misato shifted her jaw.

Commander Ikari stared her in the eye, his glasses shining in the dying sunlight. "Do you truly believe that, in light of this new information, the masses would unite together in common cause? Or would we instead set about tearing ourselves apart to apportion blame at the worst possible moment, much as we did following Second Impact?"

She looked away.

"It was the judgement of our superiors - both yours and mine - that we cannot afford to risk instability at this time. Not if humanity is to survive." The commander rose from his chair and tugged down on his shirt. "I'm afraid that I have another appointment shortly. Will that be all for now, Captain?"

"Yes, sir," she said, knowing that she had little choice in the matter.

"Dismissed, then."

She saluted once more and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Captain?"

She paused.

"Knowledge is nothing without the proper context," the commander said. "It can even be dangerous when possessed by an unprepared mind. You would do well to remember that."

"Yes, sir." She marched away, her heels stabbing down against the marble floor. So, she thought. I guess that makes me dangerous, then, doesn't it.


	69. Episode 9 Part II

Episode 9: Where Angels Fear to Tread  
>Part II: My Father's Eyes (Take 2)<p>

**Secondary Dogma. Block 6, Level 6, Room 4.**

Misato immediately drew her gun. The Doctor held up his free hand. "No! Wait!"

He slipped his wrist out and took ahold of the emaciated hand reaching out through the plastic. Somewhere behind the partition, a strangled voice moaned: "_Hurt._"

The Doctor and Misato looked at each other. "Oh," he said.

He rushed over to the center of the partition and pushed a free-hanging sheet aside. Misato found herself looking at what seemed to be a makeshift hospital ward. At least fifty wheeled cots lined the storeroom. And in each bed lay...

"It's the not-zombies from the school," the Doctor breathed.

They stepped into the room. The place smelled like urine and chemicals, with the added bonus stench of a hundred meters of unwashed flesh. The only sounds Misato could hear were the hum of equipment and the occassional cough or hoarse mumble. In fact, with the exception of the former zombies and the vast array of machines and tubes each one seemed to be hooked up to, the ward looked deserted.

No nurses or guards, Misato thought. That can't be right. "Hey!" she shouted. "Anyone on watch here?" No one replied. Somewhere in the background, some gadget made a _ping_ sound.

They came up on what looked like a nurse's station in the center of the room. The Doctor stepped past Misato and quickly flipped through the massive stack of reports on the desk. Then he turned and switched on the lightbox to the side. He stared at the films clipped to the device's surface, an ashen look on his face.

"Something wrong?" Misato asked.

"The damage to their bodies," the Doctor said, his voice hollow. "It's much more extensive than I thought. Their digestive systems can't be repaired surgically. They're all completely dependent on intravenous fluids for nutrition. Half of them have already gone into kidney and liver failure."

Misato glanced around. "So I'm guessing their rampaging days are behind them at this point."

He rubbed his eyes. "I'd be amazed if any of them could get out of bed."

"Do I even need to ask the obvious question here?"

He nodded. "If there's something down here disappearing people..."

"... then why hasn't it attacked any of the patients here?" Misato finished. "They're easy prey."

That thing in the background made that ping noise once more. In fact, it seemed to be repeating the same sound over and over again. The Doctor looked up at her. "That's not your phone, is it?" She shook her head.

He listened for a moment, then ran over to one of the beds by the far wall. This particular patient, Misato noticed as she followed, was a very pale young girl, maybe two or three years older than Shinji and Asuka. No bone mask, but she sported a prominent cast on her obviously broken nose. The girl sat halfway upright in her bed and wore a pair of neural contacts, one above each ear. The source of the pings seemed to be the small flatscreen monitor positioned on a swivel arm just in front of her eyes.

Misato couldn't help but feel like she'd seen the girl before. She couldn't quite place where, though. Maybe her picture had been in a report about the school incident, or something?...

"Oh, hullo there!" The Doctor took the girl's hand. "So sorry, didn't mean to ignore you. We just got here."

He flipped the monitor towards Misato. She saw, printed on the screen in large block letters:

: HEY! ARE YOU THE NEW NURSES?  
>: HEY! HEY! CAN YOU HEAR ME?<br>: IM RIGHT HERE!  
>: WAIT<br>: I REMEMBER YOU  
>: YOU WERE IN THE SCHOOL. WITH THAT BOY<br>: HEY!  
>: HEY! OVER HERE!<br>: HEY!  
>: HEY!<br>: HEY!

Misato suddenly recalled slamming the end of her rifle into the girl's snarling face. She winced. Oh. _That's_ where.

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Captain Katsuragi," the Doctor said. "What's your name, then?"

The contacts on the girl's head flashed. The screen went _ping_ as new words flashed into view:

: YUKI YUGIRI

"Aww, that's a brilliant name. Love the alliteration. Very Marvel Comics."

: OKAY BUT LISTEN  
>: THE BOY FROM THE SCHOOL<br>: IS HE ALRIGHT?  
>: WE DIDNT KILL HIM DID WE?<p>

The Doctor glanced at Misato. "He's fine," she said. "We got him out."

The girl let out a breath.

: OH THANK GOD  
>: THANK YOU<br>: THATS BEEN DRIVING ME CRAZY FOR WEEKS  
>: THE NURSES WONT TELL ME ANYTHING<br>: AND I CANT REMEMBER VERY MUCH  
>: JUST BITS AND PIECES<br>: LIKE A NIGHTMARE YOU KNOW?

"Why is she using those?" Misato whispered to the Doctor, gesturing towards the contacts. "Can't she just speak to us the normal way?"

He shook his head. "Verbal language centers got scrambled. All any of them can say right now is -"

"Hurt," the girl said with a wan smile.

Misato shifted her jaw. Time to get back on track. "Miss Yugiri, we're here as part of an investigation. People have been going missing in this area -"

: I KNOW  
>: ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THE MONSTER?<p>

The Doctor and Misato exchanged glances. "We might just be at that," he said. "Tell us about the monster, Yuki."

: I HAVENT SEEN IT  
>: IT DOESNT COME IN HERE<br>: BUT I HEAR IT SOMETIMES  
>: AT NIGHT<br>: WALKING IN THE CORRIDOR OUTSIDE  
>: BIG HEAVY FOOTSTEPS<br>: LOTS OF CLANKING  
>: LIKE ITS<br>: I DONT KNOW  
>: WEARING ARMOR OR METAL BOOTS OR SOMETHING<p>

"Have you told anybody about this?" Misato asked.

: YEAH  
>: TRIED TELLING THE GUARDS<br>: THEY DIDNT BELIEVE ME THOUGH  
>: SAID THE SECURITY CAMERAS DIDNT SEE ANYTHING<br>: THEN THEY STARTED DISAPPEARING

"Who did? The guards?"

: EVERYONE  
>: HEARD ONE OF THE DOCTORS SCREAMING IN THE NEXT ROOM OVER<br>: FOUR NIGHTS AGO I THINK  
>: THEN HE STOPPED<br>: JUST CUT OFF COMPLETELY

Goddamn useless Security, Misato fumed. Why the hell am I just hearing about this now? "Did you tell them? Did they find a body or anything?"

: YEAH  
>: AND NO. NO BODY<br>: NO NOTHING  
>: AT LEAST THATS WHAT THEY SAID<br>: ANYWAY THATS WHY THERE ARENT ANY NURSES HERE  
>: THEY ONLY COME DOWN ONCE OR TWICE A DAY NOW<br>: IN GROUPS WITH THE GUARDS  
>: THEYRE SCARED<p>

"And they just _left_ you down here?!" the Doctor said in an outraged tone.

: SAID THEY DIDNT HAVE SPACE FOR US  
>: UPSTAIRS IN THE MAIN HOSPITAL<br>: THATS WHY THEY PUT US DOWN HERE TO BEGIN WITH  
>: THEY CANT REALLY DO ANYTHING FOR US ANYWAY<br>: JUST MAKE US COMFORTABLE  
>: WHILE WELL<br>: WHILE WE DIE BASICALLY

"Aw, c'mon, don't say that." The Doctor squeezed the girl's hand. "Never say that. I promise you - now that I know what's going on, I _will_ help you. Count on it."

: JUST GET RID OF THE MONSTER  
>: OKAY?<br>: I MEAN. IF YOU CAN  
>: KIND OF<br>: KIND OF GOT ENOUGH TO BE SCARED OF RIGHT NOW  
>: YOU KNOW?<p>

Misato heard what sounded like a sniffle from the direction of the bed. Still gripping the Doctor's hand, Yuki Yugiri started to tremble.

* * *

><p>Back on the other side of the partition, the Doctor collapsed against the storehouse wall and slid down to the ground.<p>

Misato walked over to him, her arms folded. "You all right?"

"I'm fine." The Doctor rubbed his face. "Just need a minute to think."

Yeah, right, Misato thought. She leaned against the wall next to him. "Seems like kind of a mess in there," she said after a moment.

The Doctor snorted.

"Do you think it was worth it?" she asked. "Sparing all of them back at the school, if this was the way they were going to end up?"

"I'm not about to apologize for _saving lives,_" the Doctor snapped. "And don't you _dare_ tell me that girl would be better off dead."

"I'm not saying that." Misato held up her hands. "Mostly, I just wonder if there's any such thing as a perfect solution in a situation like this."

The Doctor calmed down. "Fair question, I suppose..."

She looked back towards the ward. "So what are you going to do about them?"

"I don't know. I'll come up with something."

"And what if you can't?"

The Doctor glared at her. "Are you actually enjoying this?!"

"No, I'm not," she snapped. "But I _do_ want to see you handle this. Because right now, it seems like I spend an awful lot of my time trying to clean up the messes left behind by powerful men. All of whom, by the way, seem perfectly comfortable keeping secrets from me. So I'd really appreciate it if I didn't have to add this one to the pile. Even if I know the next thing you're going to ask me is to tell Medical to do their damned jobs and get these people out of this freaking _basement._ Which I'll do," she added. "It'd just be kind of nice if - just for once - someone didn't just take it for granted I'll make time for all this _bullshit_ on top of trying to save the whole damned planet."

The Doctor looked away. He appeared to have a somewhat guilty expression on his face, she noted with more than a little satisfaction. Good. Message received.

She sighed and shook her head. "Gah." She let her voice soften. "Who am I kidding, though? My whole life's been about cleaning up after others. The mess they've made of their wars, the mess they've made of their children... I'm amazed the commander hasn't changed my job title to Chief Maid."

"So why do it?" the Doctor asked.

The question caught her off guard. "Huh?"

"Clean up after others. Why you? What makes it your problem?"

"Uh..." Misato shifted her feet. "I... I guess you wouldn't believe me if I said it was for the glory of humanity or something cheesy like that, right?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, all right." She took in a breath. "Let's just say... I owe the Angels some payback for something."

"Oh, don't tell me it's about _revenge._ Where does caring for the kids fit into that?"

"Okay, okay..." She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's just something I feel I owe the world. Call it a family debt." She looked at him. "What about you?"

"Oh, I made a promise," the Doctor said. "Long, long time ago. About who I was gonna be, and how I'd handle things. You're right about one thing, though."

"What's that?"

"The... messier stuff." He sighed. "I'll admit... I tend to avoid it, usually. Mostly just help where it's needed, then fade out of people's lives. Easier for everyone that way, I like to think. Just letting the... _long-term effects_ work themselves out." He looked up towards the ceiling. "I dunno... maybe part of it's just that I've let myself get lazy. Used to have these friends, you see - people I'd travel with. They'd keep me honest. Make me follow up where it was needed, point out what I'd missed, that sort of thing. Just got used to that, I suppose..."

She tilted her head. "So these friends... were they... like... your own species, or whatever?"

"Nah. Human, mostly."

She raised her eyebrows. Huh. Interesting. "So what happened to them?"

He stared off into the distance. "... I lost them."

Neither of them said anything for a while.

Finally, Misato slid down the wall and sat beside him. She reached out and took ahold of his hand.

"Tell you what," she said. "I'll help with your mess if you help with mine. Deal?"

He swallowed and looked away. "Yeah..."

* * *

><p><strong>Central Dogma. Fitness Center S2.<strong>

Oh, come _on,_ Shinji thought as he dug desperately through his gym bag. Tell me I didn't forget it. Please don't let me have - oh, thank God. He pulled out the water bottle and immediately set about downing half of its contents.

As he lowered his head, he noticed the little light on his cell phone blinking. He pulled it out from amid his normal clothes and read off the screen:

NEED HELP. COME ASAP. 2DOGMA ST6-L3-5. DOCTOR.

He held the phone towards Rei. "Hey - um, do you know where this is?"

She looked the message over. "Yes. It's a storage complex in Secondary Dogma."

"Could you show me where it is?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Would that not violate your standing orders?"

"Well... Misato's with him, though. She must've signed off on it." He glanced at the phone again. "Look - it's even from her number."

Rei blinked. Then nodded.

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_Apparently, the Eva-verse has worked out a reliable form of liver dialysis. As opposed to present-day medical technology, where the options for acute liver failure generally (as far as I know) boil down to (a) get a transplant or (b) die._


	70. Bonus Material: how did I get here?

Episode 9: Where Angels Fear to Tread  
>Bonus Material: <em>how did I get here?<em>

**SUBJECT: Transcript - Interrogation of Captain Misato Katsuragi (NERVCOM)**  
><strong>CC: Human Instrumentality Committee<strong>

_The following excerpt is from an interview of Captain Katsuragi conducted by NERV Intelligence as part of an internal investigation focusing on the entity known as "the Doctor." The session took place two days after the Battle of Access Point Magnum._

Q: ... would you care to repeat that statement, Captain?

A: Certainly. I stand by my actions. Given the same circumstances, I would most likely react in the same manner.

Q: Let's review the situation, Captain. You have aided and abetted an unvetted... _person_ of unknown origin, background and goals gain access to classified information and equipment. An individual who, might I remind you, has shown a clear pattern of deceptive and subversive behavior. You have furthermore withheld information about this person from your superiors. Under normal circumstances, your conduct would be at the very least cause for court-martial, if not execution for treason. Exactly how would you justify such behavior?

A: It's very simple. Without the Doctor, we would have lost.

Q: Aren't you assuming -

A: (_interrupts_) That's the truth of the matter, Agent. I don't like it any more than you do, but we no longer have the luxury of pride. On four occasions now, in spite of all plans and preparations, we've been caught completely off guard by the enemy. As Director of Operations, I accept full responsibility for these failures. However, I believe a full review of the facts will show that any conventional response to those scenarios would have resulted in heavy losses in terms of resources, personnel and civilian lives - some of them irreplaceable.

Q: I presume that you are referring to the pilots.

A: Correct.

Q: And you see no risk at all in allowing an unknown factor to have unrestricted access to them?

A: I see the risk as... acceptable.

Q: Explain.

A: Without the Doctor, Shinji would be dead. So, most likely, would Rei. I therefore see the proven benefits to the pilots' security as outweighing any potential hazards.

Q: You mean pilots Ikari and Ayanami.

A: Correct.

Q: Tell me, Captain. Do you see any possibility at all that your judgment in this matter has been compromised by your personal feelings? Both towards the pilots and this "Doctor"?

A: (_hesitates_) I - No. I do not.

Q: Is that so.

A: My personal feelings have nothing to do with the decisions I make as a commander. Strategically speaking, we are in a vulnerable position. If I encounter any resource that might aid us in survival, it is my responsibility to -

Q: That's enough, Captain. So, am I to understand, then, that your decisions regarding this Doctor have been completely unaffected by your experiences with him?

A: Correct.

Q: Even though, by your own report, he personally saved your life during the incident at the school?

A: Correct.

Q: And will you likewise claim that your judgment is purely rational regarding the pilots - two of whom, I understand, currently reside in your apartment?

A: My living arrangements were directly approved by the commander himself.

Q: (_pause_) Err -

A: Are you questioning his judgment?

Q: (_pause_) Fine, Captain. Touché. Just one last question, then, off the record -

A: ... of course.

Q: Turn off the recorder!

(_note: recording continues as per standard interrogation protocol._)

Q: One last question. Eh, dammit, I screwed that up...

A: Come again?

Q: Nothing. Off the record, Captain - just what the hell are you thinking? We know absolutely nothing about this - this _thing._ He's an _alien_, for God's sake! What could possibly make you think he can be trusted?

A: Do you really want to know?

Q: Yes.

A: Back in the school, during that attack? He begged me to help save the children's lives. _He_ begged _me._ And as far as I can tell, he meant it. (_pause_) When's the last time you felt that kind of concern for human life, Agent?


	71. Bonus Material: what have I done?

Episode 9: Where Angels Fear to Tread  
>Bonus Material: <em>what have I done?<em>

**Cable Intercept - Decrypted 22 Dec 2002 16:02 UTC**  
><strong>Origin:<strong> US Embassy Tokyo-2  
><strong>Transmission Time:<strong> 16 Dec 2002 07:32 UTC

TOKYO-2  
>NOFORN<br>SIPDIS

SUBJECT: INITIAL FINDINGS FROM UN ANTARCTICA/SECOND IMPACT INVESTIGATION

(S) An informal talk with personnel from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Ministry of Defense (MOD) last night resulted in gleaning some early information from the ongoing UN investigation into the 'Second Impact' incident. The general feeling of the participants was that the majority of the blame is likely to be laid at the feet of the late Dr. Hideaki Katsuragi, leader of the classified UN expedition to Antarctica. END SUMMARY.

- While details remain scarse at this time, the group consensus was that the investigation's initial findings were focused on Dr. Katsuragi's conduct and management of the test site in Antarctica. The participants unanimously agreed that the initial data clearly showed that the destruction of the continent was the direct result of the mishandling of the ADAM entity. While it was still unclear if the fault originated with his own actions or those of his subordinates, the general perception within the Ministries seems to be that liability inevitably falls to Katsuragi, if only as a matter of command responsibility. One official confided that those "in the know" within the Japanese government have taken to calling Second Impact "the Katsuragi disaster."

- It was mentioned in the same conversation that Katsuragi's young daughter (the lone survivor of the expedition) recently returned to Japan, following some sort of medical or psychiatric treatment in Europe. The individual who brought up the item went on to comment: "Think about what that must be like. For the rest of her life, she'll be the daughter of the man who killed half of the world. She was even there when he did it!" The group went on to discuss possible historical parallels, e.g. the offspring of Hitler or Stalin.

END DOCUMENT

_(In handwriting at the bottom of the page:)_

From this, it seems the US State Department is currently uninterested in probing further into Second Impact. Please forward to the Adamists and our allies within the American intelligence agencies; request they encourage this tendency wherever possible. - Ikari


	72. Episode 9 Part III

Episode 9: Where Angels Fear to Tread  
>Part III: Tears In Heaven<p>

**Tokyo-3**

Makoto glanced carefully around the corner of the alleyway. Did that do it? Had he lost her? For a moment, he allowed himself the luxury of relaxing.

Then - nope. The woman with plastic hair stepped into view at the end of the street. She scanned the area from behind her pitch-black sunglasses.

Crap! He ducked back behind cover. What now? Well, duh, idiot, he thought. Call Security already. You know you're being followed for sure now, don't you? He braced his dry cleaning under his chin and dug his cell phone out of his pocket.

Then he hesistated. Wait, wait... what if this woman _was_ Security? Or working for them or something? A week or two ago, the thought would've seemed ludicrous. But now... Aoba hadn't been into work in two days. From what Makoto had heard, he hadn't answered any of the calls made to his apartment or his cell phone...

So what if... what if Commander Ikari was knocking them all off, one by one? All the people who now knew about Lilith. And what if calling Security was just the excuse they needed to take him off the street and put a bullet in his head?

He heard the sound of the woman's heavy footsteps just beyond the corner. Makoto recoiled and fled down the alleyway. The captain, he thought. If he could just make it back to the apartment and call her, she'd know what to do. She always did...

* * *

><p><strong>Secondary Dogma. Block 6, Level 3, Room 5.<strong>

Misato had no idea what to do next. She made a sound of disgust as they crossed back into the very first room they'd searched. "What a waste of time."

"Aww, don't say _that._" It had taken the Doctor remarkably little time to cheer up, at least outwardly. Finding the fez down in the lower levels seemed to have helped. He wore it proudly on his head at a jaunty angle. "I didn't hear you complaining in that room with the classic Mazdas."

Misato smiled. "Yeah, okay. That _was_ pretty spectacular."

"See? There you go."

"Still..." Misato rolled her head back and forth. Gah. Her neck felt as stiff as a board. She could use a massage. Part of her idly wondered if the Doctor knew anything on the subject. "I can't believe we couldn't find anything. Nine people can't just up and vanish without leaving some kind of sign."

"Going from the evidence, seems that they can." The Doctor took out and examined the screwdriver. "And not in any of the usual ways, either. Didn't pick up any radiation traces from disintegrator weapons. No transmat energy signatures, either... wait. Was that there when we first came in?"

He abruptly dodged away towards a six-foot-wide oil painting hanging on the back of one of the nearby racks, donning his glasses as he went. The picture in question portrayed a lush river valley with some kind of white bird hovering above it amid the clouds. "Oof. Look at that," the Doctor said. "Straight through Martin's _Celestial City._" He poked the screwdriver through a small tear in the canvas.

Misato narrowed her eyes. "Can you pull this off the shelf?"

The Doctor ran the screwdriver over the painting's edge, then lifted it off of its mountings. Behind where the landscape had been fixed, Misato could see a sizeable bullet hole. She ran her finger around the entrance mark. "At a guess... looks like it's from a nine-millimeter hollow-point. Same ammo issued with standard NERV sidearms."

"So if we plot the trajectory back..." The Doctor muttered some numbers under his breath, then rushed back down the rows of shelves. He halted as his gaze fell on something outside of Misato's line of sight. "Over here!" He disappeared down one of the aisles.

When Misato caught up to him, he held a small MP3 player in his hand. A familiar pair of headphones lay on the floor near his feet. "Those are Aoba's," she said.

"I'd guessed." He flashed the player's screen at her. "Clapton."

"So Aoba took a shot at something." Misato examined the shelves around them. This section of the room consisted of a large number of antique dolls and toys, all sealed carefully within layers of plastic. "He ran this way. Then what?"

"Good quest -" The Doctor looked up and stopped short.

She glanced at him. "What?"

"GET DOWN!" The Doctor leapt at her and threw them both to the ground. Misato made a grab for her pistol, but her hand wound up trapped beneath her chest - she couldn't pull it loose from the holster. His brown coat settled over her head, blocking her sight...

Some distance away, she heard a dull electronic voice started to chant: "DELETE. DELETE. DELETE..."

* * *

><p><strong>Bateau Apartments. Tokyo-3.<strong>

Almost there, Makoto thought, his heart pounding. Just a little further. He weaved through the crowd and rushed across the street, heading straight for the front door of his building.

"Excuse me." An elderly man shoved a flyer in Makoto's face. "Can I interest you in -"

"Not now thanks!" Makoto blurted. He pushed the old man's arm away and dodged past a girl in a red cloak. He pressed his key fob against the pad beneath the intercom. The building's front door - which was the old-fashioned, Western kind that you had to manually close - unlatched itself with a buzz.

He rushed inside, slamming the door closed behind him. He sprinted down the long hallway with the mailboxes and up the three flights of stairs to his apartment. His own door - which was of the modern variety, not cheap to install in an old building like this, but hey, that's the price you paid to live in the future - recognized the fob as he approached and automatically slid open for him.

He threw the dry cleaning down on the kitchen floor and turned to the panel set inside the door's frame. Sweat dripped between his fingers as he keyed in the lockdown command. But that might not be enough, he thought as the door slid closed. Security could probably still override. He'd have to dig out the manual, see if there was a way to root the operating system...

"Makoto Hyuga?" a female voice asked tonelessly from somewhere behind him.

* * *

><p><strong>Secondary Dogma. Block 6, Room 5 Elevator.<strong>

Shinji would be the first to admit that the list of things he didn't know or understand about the world - let alone the greater universe - was immense. The Doctor said that he was learning and that that was the important thing. All the same, it seemed like every day he found himself facing some terrible new question, its simplicity to most people dwarfed only by its sudden urgency, that left him utterly paralyzed by the weight of his own ignorance.

For instance: what exactly _was_ one supposed to talk to girls about?

(The Doctor would know, of course. He'd have to remember to ask. He _needed_ to remember to ask.)

With Asuka, the process was fairly simple. All he really needed to do was let her talk at him, popping in every now and again to nod or to agree. If she was on a particularly intense rant, he might not even need to put his book down.

But Rei?... He felt like he'd started off strong, peppering her with questions about his father, most of which she couldn't answer. Inevitably, though, she was sort of like a conversational black hole - words disappeared into her, never to be seen again, leaving him with little to do but stand around and feel like he'd failed somehow.

So he had good reason to be surprised when, as the cargo elevator descended, Rei suddenly spoke up. "The other day," she said. "After the battle."

Shinji snapped his head up. "Umm - I mean - yeah?"

"When we left that other elevator... why did those people make that noise with their hands?"

"Uh..." Shinji thought back. Noise with their hands... what could she be... "Oh! Do you mean when all those people started clapping for us?"

She didn't say anything.

"Well, it's..." He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled nervously. "It's - they were being nice to us, you know? It was a way of thanking us. Like... I guess... recognizing our hard work and everything."

She shifted her eyes. "I see."

The elevator shuddered to a halt. The doors opened. "We're here," Rei said.

She stepped out into the room. Shinji followed, glancing around curiously at the paintings and statues. "So, wait," he said. "You really didn't know what applause is? Haven't you seen it before... I don't know... in movies or on TV or something?"

"Once or twice," she replied. "I did not understand it then, either. However, my primary focus at the time was on verbal communication."

He tilted his head. "You mean, like... the way people talk?"

"Yes. Human language contains a great deal of ambiguity. Much of it relies on contextual clues and sociocultural associations not found within the literal message text." She paused. "I still find it confusing at times, to be honest."

"... Huh." Guess I'm not the only one who's still learning, Shinji thought. He scratched the back of his head.

He was struck with a sudden feeling of unease. Come to think of it, the emotion had been building in the back of his head ever since they'd left the elevator. He stopped and looked behind them. Something felt... _wrong_ here, he thought, in a way he couldn't quite define. Something about this room...

"GET DOWN!" he heard the Doctor shout from somewhere towards the middle of the storeroom. He and Rei glanced at one another. They took off running.

* * *

><p><strong>Bateau Apartments.<strong>

Makoto pressed himself against the door. Oh, God, he thought. Oh, God.

The woman with the plastic hair rose from the chair next to the kitchen window and stalked towards him, the hydraulics in her legs hissing. "Are you Makoto Hyuga?" she asked again. Her eyes, the irises an unnatural shade of violet, shone coldly in the dim sunlight.

Options. He was in the kitchen, he thought wildly. What was in the kitchen? If I can just reach one of the steak knives, maybe... have to stall. He edged carefully towards the cabinets to his right. "Umm," he said. "... yes?"

He knew immediately that he'd made a mistake. He heard motors whine inside the woman's left arm. A hidden compartment just behind the back of her elbow popped open. Gears gnashed and whirred as she reached behind her with her other hand and pulled something out of a small bag she wore on her back...

She took out a pen from the compartment and thrust it - along with a clipboard - at him. "Sign here, please."

* * *

><p><strong>Secondary Dogma. Block 6, Level 3, Room 5.<strong>

The Doctor and Misato stood side-by-side, contemplating the sight before them.

"Um." The Doctor broke the silence. "Well."

She raised an eyebrow. "So."

"So." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Not... exactly what I was expecting."

Misato tilted her head. "Is that tin foil?"

They fell once more into silence as they regarded the item in the display case. A lengthy placard attached to the glass read:

_The Great Exterminator Cybus-Man_  
><em>(from<em> Magnificent Hero Ultrasensai_, Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation, 1963-1966)_

_Originally intended as a one-off_ Ultrasensai _villian, this alien invader from the mysterious Planet X became one of the classic tokusatsu show's most enduring icons. Driven by both a revulsion for organic life, as well as the desire to save the population of its rapidly freezing home planet - namely, by cleansing Earth of humanity so as to make room for its own species - the tragic mechanical monster became well-known for its variety of popular catch-phrases, including "DELETE," "EXTERMINATE," and "THIS IS PEST CONTROL!" Standing at an impressive 50 meters tall (or 120 meters when in its Super Destructo Cybus-King mode), the Cybus-man was nonetheless no match for the power of the mighty Ultrasensai._

_Original Cybus-man costume courtesy of the Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation. Lighting and special effects provided by Tokyo-3 Technical College._

The Doctor tapped the glass. "EXTERMINATE," the suit within the display case obediently intoned, the blue light on its handlebar-adorned helmet winking on and off in time to the cadence.

"Motion sensors," he said. "Must've forgotten to turn it off when they brought it down here..." He made a face. "Blimey. And here I thought van Statten's setup was bad."

"So... do you recognize it or something?" Misato crossed her arms.

"It looks like an old enemy of mine." The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "Details are all garbled, though. And how'd it even get here?... Debris from Canary Wharf? Or... maybe _ideas_ themselves, leaking through the Void somehow?" He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Misato heard the clatter of footsteps behind them. She turned to see Shinji and Rei come running up the aisle. "Hey," Shinji gasped as he halted and leaned against one of the shelves, his gym bag hanging by a strap from his shoulder. "S-sorry - sorry we're late. Train delay. Long train delay. Tell them, Rei."

"The main line from Central Dogma suffered an unexpected technical fault," Rei stated. "All service in this direction was delayed twenty-five minutes."

Misato stared at the two of them. "What the hell are you doing here? Shinji, I told you to go home!"

"What? Wait, but - you sent me that text message." Shinji pulled out the cell phone from his pocket, a slightly guilty look on his face. "Or... um... at least he did, anyway."

Misato turned to the Doctor, her eyes narrowed. "You did _what?_"

"Hm?" The Doctor still hadn't turned away from the display case. He stared at the costume, a distant expression on his face. "Oh, yes, right. Hullo and all. Be with you in just a..." Misato elbowed him in the gut. "Ow! What was that -"

She took the phone from Shinji and stuck it in the Doctor's face. "This. Explanation. Now."

"That... what?" The Doctor's eyes focused on the phone's screen. "Oh." He glanced over at the kids, then back to Misato. "_Oh._"

She felt her irritation vanish. "You didn't send it, did you."

"Not so much."

"Crap." Misato drew her gun.

The Doctor ran off past the children and down the row. Shinji watched him go by, his mouth hanging partway open. "Come on," Misato said. "Both of you, stay behind me. We're heading back to the elevator. Now."

"Understood," Rei said.

"Wait - I don't -" Shinji fell into step behind Misato as they rushed after the Doctor. "What's going on?"

"Neither of us sent you that message," Misato said. "This area's dangerous. We never would've brought you here."

They found the Doctor standing in the central corridor between the shelves. He spun around, his hands running through his hair. "Where is it," he mumbled. "Come on, come on, where is it..."

Shinji scooped up the fez from where the Doctor had dropped it on the floor. "So... if you didn't send it... what does that mean?"

"It means _trap,_" the Doctor said. He raised his voice. "Come on, then! You've got us now! No reason to..."

He looked back towards the elevator and froze.

He let out a low groan. "Ohhhhhhhhhh..."

"What?" Misato glanced in the same direction. She didn't see anything unusual. "What is it?"

"No one panic." The Doctor didn't turn his head. "But we're all in a non-insignificant amount of danger. Well..." He swallowed. "_Highly_ non-insignificant, let's say."

"How..." Shinji's eyes darted around the storeroom. "How do you know?"

The Doctor sighed.

"Because," he said. "When we came in, _The Thinker_ was leaning on his _left_ knee."

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_Confused? This might help: Google "rodin thinker." Then maybe take another look at this chapter's title._


	73. Episode 9 Part IV

Episode 9: Where Angels Fear to Tread  
>Part IV: San Francisco Bay Blues<p>

**Bateau Apartments. Tokyo-3.**

"You..." Makoto stared at the woman with the plastic hair. "Wait..."

She glared at him with the same cold expression. "Are you gonna sign for this or what?"

"Umm..." Makoto took the clipboard and the pen from her. He skimmed the contract. _I, the Undersigned, do hereby confirm that I have received the items listed below..._ "You... really don't look like a deliveryperson."

"I'm really not." She sighed. "Look, if I explain, will you sign the damned paper already?"

"Oh... uh, sure." Makoto scribbled down his name.

"God, finally." She snatched the clipboard back from him. "I work for the Renraku-Columbia Entertainment Music Group. We represent several major artists here in Japan. One of whom asked that _this_ be hand-delivered to you on this exact date." She took out a manilla envelope and held it out.

Makoto took it. "I really don't think I know anyone like that."

The woman shrugged.

He opened the envelope and pulled a few sheets of paper out. He glanced at the date at the top of the front page. "Wait... _1996?_"

"We field a lot of... _special_ requests from our clients," she said in a bored tone of voice. "Medications. Private business arrangements. Random charity donations. Delivering autographed guitars to the top of Mount Fuji. That sort of thing."

Makoto started to catch on. "Or... say... having a cyborg supermodel run all their errands for them?"

"Something like that."

Makoto looked back down at the envelope. I'm in the wrong business, he thought.

"Look, can I leave now?" the woman asked. "I really hadn't planned on spending my whole day chasing you around. Especially in _these._" She pointed to the high heels on her boots.

He flushed. "Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Of course." He scrambled away from the door.

She raised an eyebrow. "And the lock?"

"Oh. Right." He tried to smile apologetically as he typed in the code.

The woman strode past him without a second glance and out of the apartment.

Makoto stared at the door for a while after it slid shut behind her. His mind was just... blank. As if it'd just given up on him and crashed the way his workstation at Headquarters did sometimes. Fatal error - expected input of type "Reality," found... something else entirely. Please file a report with your manager and reboot your psyche at the earliest opportunity.

Eventually, his eyes drifted once more down to the manilla envelope. I should probably sit down, he thought. He sat down in the chair beside the kitchen window and started to read.

He stayed there for a long time.

* * *

><p><em>To whom it may concern:<em>

_The original handwritten version of this document was destroyed during Second Impact. However, a digital copy was retained on our servers and used to prepare the prints now in your possession. As per the client's request, this document has not been read by anyone else, nor has it been modified - save for an automated censorship algorithm that was mistaken applied to all company files during a corporate merger in late 2006. We apologize for our predecessors' oversight and deeply regret any loss of content that may have resulted._

_Sincerely,_  
><em>K. Togusa<em>  
><em>Corporate Archives and Data Retrieval<em>  
><em>Renraku-Columbia Entertainment Music Group<em>

_Original document follows:_

August 22, 1996

Hey, man -

!#$%, dude. I don't even know where to start with this !#$%. I guess the big question on your mind is what exactly your old buddy Aoba is doing writing you a letter old enough to vote. Wish I could tell you, but I'm honestly as lost on that as you are. One minute I'm standing in Secondary Dogma, pointing a gun at this stupid old pop-culture display; the next, I'm waking up in Golden Gate Park, just a block away from Haight-Ashbury and a bit over _eight thousand kilometers_ from where I'd been. And, oh, by the way - the year was !#$%*!# _1964!_

Yeah, you read that right. !#$%*!' time travel, man. Knew I hated it for a reason.

Anyway, good news for me was that the hippie movement was just getting started right about then, and most of those dudes had already seen things a whole lot weirder than some Asian guy from the future. Took me a while to adapt, but once I did, things were honestly pretty great. Caught a bunch of the big events - the Beatles' last gig at Candlestick Park, the moon landing, all of that stuff. I managed to get ahold of an old Stratocaster. You know I always wanted to focus on my music, man. Nothing like singing for your supper to make you concentrate.

Eventually, I got good enough to get some work as a studio guitarist. I was never great, but I did okay for myself. Went over to London. Got the chance to jam with Hendrix in 1969. Tried talking to him about cutting back, but... yeah. Man had some demons. Then I ran into Mr. Eric Clapton himself in this pub down in Westminster. Wound up playing backup on some of his solo albums. (You'll find me in the liner notes under either 'Hiro Maizuru' or 'Hiro Sandwich.' Eric thought that last one was hilarious. Yeah, I'm gonna be honest. We were all pretty dosed up at the time.)

Pretty wild, huh? I must've listened to all those tracks a thousand times since I was a kid - and the whole time, I was listening to myself. Makes your head hurt, right?

Past that, not much to tell. Went into producing around the time computers started getting involved. Turns out all those hours hacking on the MAGI were good for something after all. I first met my wife Ruby back in the Haight-Ashbury days - she's the black girl in all the photos with me. We finally got around to tying the knot in '73. Thought about having kids. Couldn't go through with it, though. Not with Second Impact waiting for them.

So, yeah. Second Impact. Been thinking about that one for a while. Tried doing some stuff to warn people, especially when I first arrived. But it pretty much was just like Jimi all over again. Some things are just too big for one guitarist, you know?

So, anyway, I've got about five years left at this point. Ruby and I've bought a place way up in the Rockies over in Colorado. We're hoping to ride the whole thing out there with some friends. If it works out, maybe you'll hear from me in person. If not... well. You remember what all that was like. Can't say I'll be too broken up about it if I don't have to see that !#$% go down all over again.

As a backup, I've left this letter with my label. I know they'll make it through; I used to own some of their albums. Gave 'em instructions on where and when to get this to you. Trust me, it's not the weirdest thing I've asked them to do. (Oh, and I told them to send it over with the hottest chick they've got on payroll. Just consider it a last favor from a dirty old man.)

Well, that's about it. Tell Katsuragi and the rest about what happened to me, okay? Maybe they can make some kind of sense out of it.

And other than that... do one last favor for me, buddy. Call that girl with the yellow scooter. I've been wanting to push you on that for thirty years. Don't let an old man down, will you?

Take care of yourself, man. In a lot of ways, I got lucky. At least I know what's waiting for me.

Your friend,  
>Shigeru Aoba<br>aka Hiro Maizuru  
>Alameda, California, USA<p>

P.S. Oh, yeah. And will you tell Maya that I said to just man up and come out of the closet already? Seriously. Girl's just embarrassing herself at this point.

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_Since someone asked me to do this in the comments at some point - this is the second of two chapters I'm releasing tonight._


	74. Episode 9 Part V

Episode 9: Where Angels Fear to Tread  
>Part V: Running on Faith<p>

**Secondary Dogma. Block 6, Level 3, Room 5.**

Shinji looked back and forth between the Doctor and the collection of artworks at the other end of the storeroom. The Doctor seemed to have his gaze locked on a bronze statue positioned next to the elevator door. The sculpture in question was of a nude man with a pensive expression sitting on a rock, his chin resting on his hand. The figure's arms were both poised over his right knee.

"So... just wondering out loud here..." The Doctor swallowed. "Rei, do you _need_ to blink? Biologically, I mean?"

"I think so, yes," Rei said.

The Doctor sighed. "Yeah, didn't think it'd be that simple. Oh, well."

"Seriously. Doctor." Misato stepped towards him. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"See where I'm looking? The philosopher with a gym membership?" The Doctor carefully pointed with his chin. "Look at it. All of you, I need you to look at it. Do _not_ let it out of your sight. Not even for a second. And Captain, if you'd kindly point your torch over in that direction..."

Misato gave Shinji a sidelong glance. He shrugged. She shook her head and unclipped the big flashlight from her belt. "Okay, okay..." She turned it on and levelled the beam at the statue. "So there's a point to this, right? Other than just making me feel like -"

The lights in the storeroom turned off.

"- an idiot," Misato finished. She eyed the ceiling.

"It knows it's been spotted." The Doctor shifted his jaw. "Must've infected the local systems around here somehow. That's how it managed the cameras and the texts."

Misato narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean _it?_"

"I'll show you." The Doctor took a wide step back, pushing Shinji and Rei behind him. "Captain, when I give the word, turn off the flashlight, then back on again. Quick as you can."

"All right..." Misato flicked the switch. The room vanished into darkness. "Off - on."

The beam flashed back to life. Everything looked exactly the same.

Shinji gave the Doctor a confused glance. Rei didn't move her eyes, but she tilted her head.

"... few more times, maybe?" the Doctor asked.

Misato sighed. "Off - on." The beam flickered. "Off - on. Off - on. Off - oh _fuck me._"

Shinji froze. The statue now stood fully-upright a short distance away from them, its hands twisted into claws. Its mouth hung open as if caught in mid-howl, revealing rows of sharp, needle-like teeth.

In the corner of Shinji's eye, he saw Misato slowly raise the handgun.

"Knew that'd do it. They hate it when you play with them. Gah..." The Doctor made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat. He sounded more irritated than anything, like he'd missed a pinball shot or something. "Should've seen it sooner. Just wasn't expecting it, that was my problem. Oh, don't get me wrong - I knew _something_ must've fallen out of the rift here. More Cybermen, I figured. Maybe an Elemental Shade. But _this?_" He sniffed. "I don't even have a clue how it ended up in the Void."

"Doctor!" Misato snapped. "Moving statue. Statue that moves. Why is the statue moving?!"

"Because it's not a statue," the Doctor said grimly. "It's a... well, let's just call it a Lonely Assassin right now. Keep it simple." He took in a breath. "Here's the rules - as long as you can see it, it can't move. But soon as you turn your head - soon as you _blink_ - it's free. And it's fast. Faster than you can imagine."

Shinji stared at the assassin. His eyes already felt itchy. "What happens if it catches you?"

"You don't want to know."

"Can I shoot it?" Misato licked her lips. "What happens if I shoot it?"

"What do you think?" The Doctor dug through his coat pockets, searching for something. "It's stone right now - well, metal. Perfect defense mechanism. Doubt even dynamite would slow it down."

"So what do we do?" Shinji asked. "What's the plan?"

"We get out." The Doctor tilted his head towards Misato. "Where's the nearest exit?"

"Uh... either of the next rooms would work." Misato tightened her grip on the flashlight. "Each one has its own elevator to the loading docks."

"Right-o." The Doctor took in a breath. "Okay. Let's just all take this nice and slow. Everyone, just take a step back..."

The flashlight shut down. Shinji heard Misato swear and frantically slap it against the palm of her hand. It flickered back on.

The statue was gone.

"Annnnnnnnd it can also manipulate low-level energy fields." The Doctor grimaced. "Probably should've mentioned that sooner."

"Might've been nice, yeah." Misato swept the flashlight's beam around them.

Shinji heard the clang of metal against concrete - more or less the way one might expect the footsteps of a bronze statue to sound, he supposed. The noise seemed to come from every direction at once. He desperately looked around, his heart pounding in his chest. All of a sudden, every shadow appeared to be holding something moving...

"Right, forget about slow." The Doctor pulled out a neon green glowstick and cracked it. "THIS WAY!" He sprinted away, light in hand. Shinji immediately followed at his heels, Misato and Rei just a step behind.

The Doctor in the lead, they ran down the central passage towards the back of the storeroom. Shinji's legs already felt like rubber. The Doctor abruptly dodged down one of the darkened aisles to the right. They dashed the full span of the shelves, then turned left at the end of the row.

"DELETE," an electronic voice behind Shinji burbled.

"HA!" The Doctor skidded to a halt and spun around, holding the glowstick up in front of him triumphantly. "Forgot about the motion sensor, didn't ya?"

Shinji turned as Misato swung her flashlight around. The assassin stood about five paces behind the group, caught in the glare of the glowstick and the flickering blue light on the costume to its side. Its skin looked different now, Shinji noticed. Large patches on its body had started to fade from a shiny bronze to a dull gray.

The Doctor grinned. "Well, now. This is rare, isn't it?"

"What is?" Shinji asked.

"We haven't seen any others. They're usually pack hunters, this lot. But not you. Eh, Mr. Thoughtful?" The Doctor raised his voice. "You're on your own, am I right? Four against one, then. Odds on my side for once. Interesting day."

Rei spoke up. "Captain Katsuragi."

"What, Rei?" Misato spoke out of the corner of her mouth, her eyes fixed on the statue.

"I am in need of a command decision from a NERV staff officer," Rei said. "I request clarification of my immediate objective. Should I prioritize keeping Pilot Ikari alive, or maintaining the security of classified data?"

Misato and the Doctor exchanged glances.

"THIS IS PEST CONTROL," the costume announced. The next thing Shinji knew, the statue had moved two steps closer. But I didn't blink, he thought. I really didn't. Did I?

"Yeah." Misato swallowed. "Let's, uh... let's go with that first option, Rei."

"Understood," Rei said. "Follow me."

Shinji felt a sudden rush of air at the back of his neck. He heard Rei's footsteps behind them as she raced off further into the back of the storeroom.

"Err... Rei?" The Doctor called out. "Could we maybe just talk things through first? Just a... yeah."

Misato snorted. "Oh, so _now_ you want to collaborate."

"Not in front of the deadly threat, please," the Doctor muttered to her.

The Doctor's glowstick flared to a painful level of brightness, then just as quickly dimmed into nothing. Without thinking, Shinji reflexively glanced towards him.

"DELETE. DELETE. DELETE." Shinji jerked his eyes back. The statue was another step closer. It held out its hand in a fist over its head.

"Gah." The Doctor dropped the glowstick. "It must've accelerated the rate of decay..."

"Awesome." Misato pulled Shinji a step or two back. "So what happens now?"

Shinji narrowed his eyes. It was hard to see with just Misato's flashlight, but... "Uh, Doctor?"

"What?"

"I think it's holding something in its hand." It looked like some kind of metal cylinder to Shinji, just a little larger than a D-size battery.

"Oh... huh." The Doctor craned his neck. "That's new. You usually don't see this lot using tools..."

"Oh," Misato said quietly.

"What?" The Doctor edged towards her slightly. "Do you recognize it?"

"It's, uh..." Misato swallowed. "It's pepper spray. From the security lockers."

No one said anything for a moment.

"... either of you see where Rei got off to, then?" the Doctor asked weakly.

Misato's flashlight flickered and dimmed.

"RUN!" the Doctor shouted.

Shinji found himself suddenly being propelled forward through the dark. He found his footing and sprinted ahead. "EXTERMINATE," the Cybus-man rumbled behind them. He heard a crack - like a bone being snapped in half - and then suddenly the air around him felt like fire.

Shinji's eyes immediately sealed themselves shut. He couldn't breathe. The skin on the back of his neck burned like the sun. He stumbled blindly through nothingness, allowing himself to be pushed and guided by invisible hands. His left arm collided painfully with what felt like the edge of a shelf. He heard Misato yell something, though he couldn't tell what, and then...

* * *

><p>Something large and heavy clanged shut. Shinji heard the buzz of the Doctor's screwdriver.<p>

With a supreme amount of effort, he forced his eyes open. They immediately filled with tears. His neck still hurt, and little pieces of skin on the back of his arms felt like they'd been dabbed with molten silver. "What is this place, Rei?" Misato asked. He could feel her elbow pressing against his back.

"Emergency exit," Rei said. He heard the sound of metal grinding against metal.

He wiped his eyes as clear as best he could. They were now huddled together in a cramped airlock, lit by a handful of small blue lights. In front of him, Rei stoically turned the wheel attached to one of the doors.

"There," the Doctor croaked. Shinji turned to see him pocket the screwdriver as he stood by the hatch behind them. He looked paler than normal, a thin sheen of sweat on his face. "Deadlock-sealed. That should buy us a little time..."

Something slammed against the hatch with the force of a speeding truck. Shinji flinched.

The Doctor stared at the new crack in the door's steel skin. "Or not."

Rei pushed the other door open. Shinji felt a blast of cold air rush in.

* * *

><p><strong>Outside Block 6<strong>

They tumbled out of the airlock as a single mass. Rei slammed the door shut behind them.

Shinji staggered away from the others, gasping for air. Wherever they were now, it was freezing cold. He rubbed his arms, trying to wipe whatever chemicals he could off of his skin. All he managed to do was spread the burning sensation to his hands.

He found himself standing at the top of what looked like a latticework fire escape bolted to the side of the warehouse they'd been in, metal stairs and ladders leading up and down the levels. Rather than being its own underground complex, the storage block instead appeared to be one of several buildings inside an immense, concrete-lined cavern. In the distance, he could see other structures extending from the roof to the floor of the huge chamber like gigantic columns, dimly lit by a thin ribbon of lamps scattered across the ceiling.

It dawned on Shinji that he was holding something. He looked down and found himself still clutching the Doctor's fez in one hand, crushed but still intact.

"We need -" Misato coughed. She seemed to be keeping one of her eyes shut. "We've got to keep moving."

"This way." Rei darted down the fire escape to the level below.

Shinji heard a muffled noise that sounded uncomfortably like steel tearing, followed by the distant impact of something very heavy being tossed aside as if it weighed nothing.

The Doctor raised his head. He turned and peered through the window set into the airlock door. "Gotcha," he muttered.

Shinji stood on his tiptoes and looked through the glass. The statue stood directly on the other side, its face pressed against the window. He immediately stepped back.

"Both of you, go." The Doctor really didn't look well at all to Shinji. His face looked pallid in spite of his determined expression. "I'll delay it. Get clear while you can."

"But..." Shinji found himself weakly raising the hand with the hat in it.

"Go," Misato said. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Follow Rei. We'll be right behind you."

What else could he do? Shinji nodded dumbly and rushed away.

* * *

><p>Misato took stock as she heard Shinji scurry down the stairs. One eye out of commission - keeping it shut seemed to help the pain a little, at least. Face, hands and lungs all burning. Nose running. God. She'd forgotten how much it sucked being on the wrong end of this stuff. Otherwise, she still had her gun. And the flashlight - though it didn't seem quite as bright as it'd been before. She wondered if the... that <em>thing<em> had damaged the bulb somehow.

"I said _GO!_" the Doctor rasped. "I'll be fine."

"Don't be stupid," Misato snapped. Standing next to him, she could barely see the statue's face on the other side of the glass. "Tell me what that thing did to Aoba."

"He's gone. I'm sorry."

"I need to know, Doctor."

He sighed. "It throws you back in time to die while it feeds on everything you are and might've been in the present." He leaned closer towards the glass. "That's why you didn't bother with any of the ward patients, am I right? You didn't think they had a future. Not enough to make a proper meal, anyway." He bared his teeth. "Well, you're wrong. And that's not the last mistake you've made here. Trust me. You're gonna regret even _thinking_ about bringing children into this."

One by one, the emergency lights inside the airlock started to burn out.

Misato hesistated, then holstered her pistol. "Come on," she said. "That's the best we can do here."

"I can still -"

"I said come _ON!_" She grabbed the Doctor's hand and dragged him towards the stairs. As she pulled him away, she saw the last of the lights on the other side of the door wink out.

* * *

><p>At the bottom of the fire escape, Shinji bent over and retched. Nothing came out, though. His stomach held it together. So that was something, at least, he thought.<p>

He looked up towards Rei wearily, wiping his nose. "Now what?"

She placed her hand against the building's wall. A panel lit up under her fingertips. CALL ACCEPTED, the display read. ON ROUTE.

Up above them, Shinji heard what sounded like a sledgehammer pounding on a steel bulkhead over and over again. He anxiously looked up the fire escape. No sign of the Doctor or Misato. Come on, he thought. Come on...

He heard a warning bell. Turning his head, he saw what looked to him like a small subway train engine - about the size of a van or a short bus - pull up in front of them, running on a set of aboveground rails he hadn't noticed before. Stenciled letters on the side of its hull read SECONDARY DOGMA LIGHT EVAC CAR B1-A1-N3.

A door towards the front of the tram slid open. Rei disappeared into the vehicle.

In the dark up above, Shinji heard something break open.

He retreated into the car's doorway and turned back to the building. Come on, dammit, he thought, hopping back and forth on his feet. Where were they? Where -

A tremendous THUD rocked the car as something flew out from the fire escape and slammed into the ground. When Shinji raised his head again, he saw the twisted remains of the airlock door embedded in the cavern floor ten paces away.

A hideous, nerve-rending screech filled the air. Shinji felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He felt as if he could hear thoughts and concepts within the noise - incomprehensible things that spoke of some vast, ancient rage, of a neverending hatred that would gladly tear suns out of the sky and burn beyond the end of time itself. Shinji's entire body started to tremble. He gripped his ears, trying to block out the sound, to push away the unspeakable images that prowled at the edges of his mind...

Then he heard a rattle. He looked up to see Misato slide down the fire escape's final ladder and onto the ground, followed shortly by the Doctor. "Over here!" Shinji yelled. "Come on!"

They rushed onto the tram. The door slid shut. The car began to move.

* * *

><p><strong>Light Evacuation Car B1-A1-N3<strong>

The tram's interior was lined with a dozen padded seats, lit by a bright fluorescent panel on the ceiling. Rei sat by the front, her hands on a control console. The Doctor immediately collapsed into a chair by the door, hacking and coughing. Misato grabbed onto a strap hanging from the ceiling, looking ready to keel over.

"You... uh..." Shinji held out the disheveled fez to the Doctor. "You dropped your hat."

The Doctor smirked. He took the fez, popped in back into shape, then plopped it on Shinji's head.

Something slammed into the back of the car, knocking Shinji off his feet and into Misato. The entire vehicle shook like a leaf.

Misato looked up at the car's roof. "Oh, come on..."

The Doctor groaned. "Wings. I always forget about the _wings..._"


	75. Episode 9 Part VI

Episode 9: Where Angels Fear to Tread  
>Part VI: Corridors and Fire Escapes<p>

**Light Evacuation Car B1-A1-N3. NERV Headquarters.**

Rei put her palm down on the control panel. The tram accelerated.

With a loud crack, the light in the car cut out.

Misato flipped the flashlight up. Shinji saw a single stone arm reaching through the roof, the crushed remains of the fluorescent in its hand.

The tram hit a bump. When Shinji's eyes refocused, the arm was gone. The air whistled through the empty hole in the ceiling.

"Listen to me," Rei said.

Something clanged against the roof towards the back of the car. Shinji flinched. Misato swung the flashlight towards the source of the sound, her single good eye darting back and forth.

The Doctor opened his mouth, then immediately started to hack and cough. "Bit louder, perhaps?" he finally managed to get out.

"Listen to me," Rei repeated at a slightly higher volume. "When the vehicle stops, there will be a hallway that leads to a door. I must enter first. "

Shinji heard a noise like a gunshot. He twisted around to see the Doctor lying sideways in his seat, his teeth gritted, his eyes bulging at the large tear in the ceiling above where his head had been just a second before.

"I will require approximately sixty seconds to disable the security countermeasures," Rei shouted above the wind howling through the punctures in the roof. "I will open the door as soon as preparations are complete. You must hold it back during that time."

The Doctor and Misato looked at each other.

The entire car suddenly lurched to the side, throwing Shinji off of his feet. It hung at that angle for a moment, dangerously close to tipping over, until it slammed back down onto the tracks with bone-rattling force.

As he pulled himself upright and latched onto the chair he'd stumbled into, Shinji saw Misato lean in close to the Doctor. "Options?" she muttered. Shinji could just barely hear her.

The Doctor shrugged. "... challenge it to whist, maybe?"

She narrowed her eye. "I don't know the rules here. You're going to have to tell me if that's an actual idea or if you're just being stupid."

"Eh, the second one. Left the cards in my other coat." The Doctor motioned towards Rei. "Gotten us this far, hasn't she?"

Misato straightened up. "Do what you have to, Rei," she called across the car.

"Yes, ma'am." Rei flicked her eyes towards the panel. "Destination in thirty seconds."

Looking out the windows, Shinji could see lights in the distance. The tram swung around in a wide arc, then dove down towards what looked like the entrance to a tunnel. He had just enough time to see the words CENTRAL DOGMA - EMERGENCY ACCESS on the arch over the opening before the car rushed inside, dodging through a maze of underground passages at a dizzying speed.

The breaks suddenly came on. The tram car screeched to a halt in the middle of the tunnel.

His heart pounding, Shinji released his death grip on the chair. He saw Rei stand up. "I'm going," she said.

The Doctor gave her a slight nod. The tram's door slid partway open, then jammed. Rei vanished in a blur.

The Doctor got up and gingerly stuck his head out of the door, glancing upwards towards the roof. "Gone for the moment, I think," he said quietly.

They crawled out of the battered car. The tunnel, Shinji noticed, was wide and well-lit. Multiple sets of tracks ran over the ground, most likely to accomodate different sizes of trains. True to Rei's description, they stood in front of a long side passage that split off from the tunnel proper and terminated at a single unmarked hatch.

Misato examined the car's mangled roof. "Did we lose it on the way?"

"Doubt it," the Doctor said grimly. "Come on, it's probably just -"

He stook a step forward and suddenly keeled over onto the ground.

"Doctor!" Shinji immediately rushed over to his side. The Doctor's eyes were still open, but he was breathing hard. His skin looked even paler than it had before and sweat dripped from his forehead. He tried to push himself up off the ground, only to collapse again with a groan.

Misato stepped in. Together, she and Shinji pulled the Doctor up onto his feet. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"'s the capsaicin." The Doctor coughed. He seemed unable to focus his eyes. "The stuff in the spray. I process it differently than you. My body's trying to force itself into a healing coma - shut down until it can expel the allergen..."

"And you're only bringing this up _now?!_" Misato snapped.

"Listen - we don't have time." Still leaning on them, the Doctor took a few wobbly steps forward. "The angel - it can't have gone far. It's probably just looking for a way to take out the lights in here..."

As if on cue, the tunnel went dark, save for the flashlight in Misato's hand.

The Doctor sighed. "I hate being right sometimes."

Shinji heard something scrape against the ground behind them. "MOVE!" The Doctor sprang forward with a sudden burst of frenzied energy, dragging Misato and Shinji along with him into the hallway. Shinji glanced back just in time to see the entire tram car come hurling out of the dark towards them. It slammed into the hallway's opening with a tremendous _crunch._ Misato turned back and brought the flashlight to bear on the space above the vehicle.

The statue stood on the car's crumpled side, its teeth bared, its hands reaching out towards them. Its face looked different now - harder and more angular - while its body had sprouted some kind of loose-fitting robe. A pair of feathered wings extended from its back.

"Come on, come on, we've got to get some distance -" Misato dragged them backwards down the hallway. Shinji kept his eyes locked on the creature. Don't blink, he thought. Don't blink. Don't blink...

He felt his back come up against the metal door.

"So. End of the line, then, eh?" The Doctor pulled away from them. He took a single wobbly step towards the statue. "Almost time for supper. Just answer me this first - I've never met one of you this... this _impatient_ before. Your kind's older than _stars._ You can afford to take your time, can't you?

"So why the rush, eh? _Eh?_ What's got you so worked up?"

In response, the bulb in Misato's flashlight shattered.

The hallway plunged into darkness. Shinji heard the beating of wings -

A familiar hum filled the air. Shinji could see the statue standing in front of them, just a handful of paces away, outlined by a faint blue light.

"Should probably warn you," the Doctor rasped. His arm shaking, he held up the one remaining source of light out in front of him: the screwdriver. "There's a reason I don't usually use it like this..."

"Why's that?" Misato asked. Her voice sounded strangely calm. Shinji felt her hand dig into his shoulder.

"There's a hardwired cut-off I can't override." The Doctor swallowed. "Put it in years ago. I'd been having trouble with _battery life_, you see..."

The screwdriver beeped three times. Then turned itself off.

Shinji shut his eyes.

The door behind them lurched open with a hiss. Shinji felt Misato grab ahold of him and rush him backwards. They half-fell, half-stumbled through the dark - he heard something rushing towards them, a loud bang, the beating of his heart, the sound of wings -

A bright light flared through Shinji's eyelids.

He slowly opened his eyes and blinked, flashes of patterns and colors fading from his vision. He was lying on a metal floor. Misato uncurled herself from around him and slowly rose to her feet. Shinji lifted his head.

They were in a circular, glass-walled room. A single powerful floodlight lit the space from above. The statue stood directly below the lamp, its hands placed over its eyes. Maybe it was just Shinji's imagination, but the assassin seemed to have a surprised - or perhaps even horrified - expression on what he could see of its face.

He let Misato pull him to his feet. As he did, he heard a slight moan from the other end of the room. A surprising distance away from the statue, the Doctor untwisted himself on the ground, rubbing his head. He seemed to have run into the large metal tube that stood at the center of the chamber. He glanced back at the statue, a confused expression on his face.

Something suddenly clicked in Shinji's head. "Ohhhhhhh." He snapped his fingers and looked at the Doctor, pointing towards the angel. "_Weeping._ I get it now."

The Doctor slowly blinked. Then burst out laughing.

"Wait... what stopped it?" Misato went over to the Doctor and offered her hand. "None of us were looking at it."

"No idea." The Doctor pulled himself up, a wide grin still on his face. "Can't be the reflections, though. It's got its eyes covered."

Shinji glanced curiously at the statue's image in the glass. He noticed the fez lying against the wall. Weird, he thought as he picked up the hat and dusted it off. Whatever was beyond the transparent barrier was hidden in shadow, but he could still see some kind of liquid pressing up against the surface. Like they were underwater or in an aquarium or something -

A row of lights came on behind the glass.

Shinji found himself looking into a large tank. A dozen eyes stared back at him. All of them belonged to Rei.

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_Stupid real life. But it is what it is._

_Honest show of hands - how many of you figured out Rei's strategy here before the reveal? Was wondering how obvious I made it..._

_Eva fans will of course know where they are. So where is it? Where should weeping angels fear to tread? - I swear, I've been sitting on that one for freaking_ years _now..._


	76. Episode 9 Part VII

Episode 9: Where Angels Fear to Tread  
>Part VII: Lonely Stranger<p>

**Dummy Plug Plant**  
><strong>Central Dogma. NERV Headquarters.<strong>

At least ten identical giggling, drooling Rei Ayanamis hung suspended on the other side of the glass from Shinji, floating peacefully through the fluid that enveloped them. Each one wore the same blissful, vacant expression, their eyes wide and unfocused.

They were also, he couldn't help but notice, all very much naked. He felt his face go red.

"Ohhhhh..." The Doctor breathed. He stepped towards the glass, a fascinated expression on his face. "Look at you..."

"What the hell..." Misato stared into the tank. "What are they?"

"They're spares," the Doctor said.

"What?"

"Spare bodies. Mindless husks constructed from indeterminate matter. All connected to a central backup server." The Doctor nodded at a huge mass of hoses and tubes hanging from the ceiling, which resembled nothing less than a brain fashioned out of rubber and plastic. "Current body wears out or gets damaged, you just pop your memories into another head and off you go. In a way... you could say that this room _is_ Rei."

"Are..." Shinji swallowed. He almost felt like he'd been hit with the pepper spray again, the way his face was burning. "Are either of you going to tell me not to look?"

"See over there?" The Doctor pointed to a handful of smaller figures grouped at the very back of the tank. "Transitional forms. Infant, toddler, prepubescent... they must've moved her up through the series. Gave her the experience of normal human development."

"You said something about indeterminate matter," Misato said. "What does that mean?"

"The stuff Angels are made from." The Doctor glanced back at the statue. "Well, big-A Angels, anyway. Rei and the Evas, too. Grown from tissue samples taken from Lilith, no doubt."

"Oh, _fine,_" Shinji muttered. He pulled the fez over his eyes. "You're both terrible role models, you know that?"

"Imagine atoms that can't make up their mind if they're waves or particles," the Doctor continued. "Or, for that matter, which _kind_ of particle. Control the observer effect properly, you can modify their physical properties on the fly - mass, density, electric charge..." He took in a breath. "It's the _Prima Materia._ Dreamstuff. The ultimate form of programmable matter. Packets of energy that'll become whatever you want, whenever you want."

"I... I don't think I understand. What does that mean?" Misato crossed her arms. "What _are_ the Evas, Doctor? What are they capable of?"

"Anything," the Doctor said quietly.

From somewhere beneath the floor came the sound of gears turning. Shinji peeked out from beneath the fez to see a metal cover retract from around the pillar at the center of the room, revealing a glass tube. A hatch in front slid open. Rei stepped out, her clothes and hair soaked with LCL.

Simultaneously, a section of the floor next to her rose out of the ground, exposing a tall cabinet beneath it. Rei reached into an open compartment and withdrew a towel. The cabinet sunk back into the ground.

"Rei." The Doctor turned to her, a solemn expression on his face. "Thank you. Bringing us here - revealing this place to us - that couldn't've been easy for you."

Rei lifted up the towel and wiped off her face.

"So what now?" Misato gave the statue an uneasy glance. "We can't just leave this thing here, can we?"

"They know to watch it now," Rei said. "These systems are heavily shielded. It should be unable to manipulate the lights."

Misato glanced at the Doctor. He shrugged. "Should be enough to buy us time, at least. Give us the chance to figure something else out."

She looked back to Rei. "And who's _they?_ What are these things? Can you really... I don't know... _possess_ them or something?

Rei stared into the distance over the towel's edge. "If I die, I can be replaced."

"Yeah..." The Doctor swallowed and looked away. To Shinji, he seemed to be regarding his own reflection in the glass. "I know the feeling..."

Misato looked back and forth between the two of them, then sighed. "Do you have another one of those?" She pointed to Rei's towel, then to her closed eye. "I don't know if you can tell, but this _really_ sucks."

"Oh, right. Here." The Doctor pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to Misato. She spit on it and started rubbing her eye. He winced and turned back to the girl. "Rei, I'm sorry. I can only guess how far we've already pushed you. But there's something else I need to know.

"Your memory unit up there." The Doctor motioned towards the brain above them. "It's not just shaped like that for show, is it?"

Rei paused. She slowly lowered the towel and carefully folded it in her hands. "... no," she finally said.

Shinji glanced at the Doctor. "So what does that mean?"

"It means that that's Lilith's brain," the Doctor said grimly. "Ripped out of her skull. Taken apart and scanned for information. Then pieced back together again artificially. It's a primitive neural mapping technique. Serial sectioning, they call it. Guh." He shook his head with a disgusted growl. "_Assured_ me it was autonomic, did he... that's how your dad knew. They must've only left her with the brainstem.

"But all that's just lead-up. Here's the big question." The Doctor fixed Rei with a piercing look. "Rei... are you Lilith?"

"Wait, _what?!_" Misato snapped her head up from behind the handkerchief.

Rei stood completely still. For a moment, it was almost enough to make Shinji wonder if she, too, could only move when out of sight.

"Rei, answer him." Misato said, an edge in her voice. "That's an order."

"Oy!" The Doctor shot her a disapproving glare. "Don't force her! A little sensitivity, thanks?!"

Rei cast her eyes down. "No."

The room fell silent. After a moment or so, the Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Just... no?"

Rei sighed. "That was the hope when I was created. But if any information remains within the Chamber of Guf, I have no conscious access to it."

The Doctor nodded thoughtfully.

"Okay, so no memories." Misato narrowed her eyes. "What does that make you, though? What are you? Human or Angel?"

Rei looked away. "I don't know."

"Guess."

"Both." She shrugged. "Neither."

"What does that even mean?!" Misato moved one hand to her gun in its holster.

"It means she's something _new._" The Doctor stepped in front of her. "And that's enough, Captain. She's told you everything she can."

Misato opened her mouth as if to say something. Shinji stepped towards her, his hands held out. "Maybe - um. Maybe we should save this for a day where we haven't been running for our lives?..."

She hesistated, then sighed and let her arms drop to her side. "Yeah, all right, all right..." She rubbed her eye with the handkerchief, then looked back to the Doctor. "Can you help me blank the security footage in this room? I think there might be active cameras in here."

The Doctor grimaced and looked around. "Ooh, yeah. Good thought."

Shinji let out a breath and stepped back. Behind him, one of the Reis blurted out a string of nonsense syllables that ended in a giggle. He twitched.

* * *

><p>Eventually, he worked up the nerve to go up to Rei. She'd stayed in the same spot, her eyes staring out into nothing. "Are you okay?" Shinji asked. He tried to keep his eyes away from the bodies floating in the tank in front of them, with only the occassional failure.<p>

"I am uninjured," she answered tonelessly.

He rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, that - that's not what I meant."

A bubble of air floated peacefully up from the bottom of the tank.

"Given the option," Rei said, "I would not have brought you here."

He hesistated, then shrugged. "Um - that's okay. I mean, my father probably ordered you to keep all this secret, right?"

"Yes. But that is not the reason."

"Oh." He stole another side glance at the tank. "I - I guess I can see... it is kind of personal."

"Yes," she repeated. "But that is not the reason."

"So... what?"

Rei shifted her eyes away from him. "It is natural to fear what one does not understand."

He blinked. What did she mean? Fear... so did she expect this place to scare him, for some reason? Maybe that might've been the case at one point, but... He tried a smile. "It's all right, Rei. Really. Don't worry about it."

She turned her head and looked at him. Though her expression hadn't changed, she looked sort of... confused, actually. Like he'd suddenly started spouting gibberish or talking in a foreign language she didn't know.

"Well, I mean - it's just that I've seen loads of stuff weirder than this by now, you know? I mean, come on. Walking statue, right?" He pointed his thumb at the angel behind them. "And these - the other yous - well, I guess they're _kind of_ creepy. Because they're smiling and laughing all the time. And I sort of wish they were wearing clothes, too, I guess." He felt his face redden. "B-but it's not like they're trying to hurt me or doing anything other than just floating there, right? So why would I... you know?..."

He trailed off into silence. Oh, God. Why did I have to open my mouth? That was terrible. He looked down, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

In the corner of his eye, he saw Rei tilt her head. She seemed to consider him for a moment. Then she raised her hands and clapped them together three times.

He looked up and stared at her. She looked at her palms uncertainly. "I don't think I'm doing it right," she said.

Shinji felt a grin spread across his face. He shook his head and looked away. God, he thought. Look at us. Both of us. We're terrible.

* * *

><p>They'd tried it again. That was the one thought, white-hot and angry, that dominated Misato's mind. The bastards tried to resurrect an Angel. <em>Again.<em> And I've been working with the results this entire time.

She scrubbed at her eye with the handkerchief again and glanced at the children standing on the other side of the room. God. Just an hour ago, she would've been squeeling at how cute the two of them looked. Now, on the other hand... "Hey," she said. "There's no chance Angels could have _diseases_, right? Like HIV or syphilis or anything like that?..."

"What? Why would you -" The Doctor gave her an annoyed glance. "Oh, never mind. Look at this." He pulled a panel off of the short span of wall next to what looked like the main door leading out of the chamber. Behind it, amid a rat's nest of cables and tubes, an unmarked binder sat tucked off to the side on a small shelf.

The Doctor pulled the binder out and blew what looked like years of dust off of its plastic skin. He quickly flipped through the old pages. "What is it?" Misato asked.

"User manual, I think... documentation for the equipment in here. Temperature settings, pressure maximums, power requirements, that sort of thing... wait. Hold on." The Doctor flipped back a few pages. "... Rei? How old are you?"

On the other side of the room, Rei looked up. "I don't know."

"Right. In that case, what's the earliest date you can recall?"

She tilted her head. "November fifteenth, two-thousand-and-five Common Era," she said after a moment. "Oh-two-hundred hours. Japan Standard Time."

"Mmh. So what do you make of this?"

The Doctor pulled out a faded photograph from between two pages within the binder and held it up to the light. Rei narrowed her eyes and walked across the room, Shinji following curiously behind her. Misato peered over the Doctor's shoulder. The image, she saw, was of two pale girls dressed in formal school uniforms, blazers and everything, standing together in a sunlit hallway. One looked up towards the camera, a slight smile on her face. The other seemed more uncertain, as if caught off guard.

Both of the girls looked identical to Rei.

The Doctor sniffed the photo. "Must be at least twenty years old." He glanced at Rei. "Ever seen this before? Any recollection of this event?"

Rei shook her head.

The Doctor flipped the photo over in his hand. A few words had been written on the back in ballpoint pen: REUNION. PROJECT ZERO.

Misato felt her head start to throb. Gee, great, she thought. More questions. Because we can't possibly have enough of those right now. She tapped the Doctor on the shoulder. "Look, as great as this is and all - we still need to get you out of here before anyone notices, you know."

He grimaced. "Ooh, right. The whole not-getting-shot-thing. What was the plan on that again?"

"You'll have to go back through the tunnels to the storage block in Secondary Dogma." Misato fished her ID card out of her pocket. "Use this on the big cargo elevator in the lobby. I've rigged it to take you back to the surface. You just need to - oh." She paused.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I forgot - the keycard's not enough." She rubbed her temples. "Someone outside the elevator has to input my password into the console."

"So come back with me."

"I can't. I've got to stay here and figure out how to explain all _this_ somehow." She waved her hand at the statue.

Shinji raised his hand. "I'll do it, Misato. You can just tell them I ran away when the statue started moving."

"That may be for the best," Rei said. "Pilot Ikari lacks sufficient credentials. He will most likely trigger additional security measures, should he leave through the main door."

Misato sighed. "All right. Fine. Rei, you go get help. Shinji, the password's Kainan Bay. All one word." She passed him her ID card.

He took it. "Do you... um... want me to bring it back after, or..."

"It's fine. Just stay there in the lobby." Misato gazed at the collection of wonders and horrors in front of her. She rubbed her temples again. This... this wasn't going to be easy. "I trust you."

* * *

><p><strong>Central Dogma Lower Evacuation Tunnels<strong>

The Doctor examined the photo again as he waited for Shinji to climb down off of the ruined tram car. Something about the handwriting on the back, maybe? Or a hidden message encoded in the film grain? No, no, that couldn't be it... "Grah."

"What?" Shinji asked as he stepped onto the ground.

"Ohhhhh, there's something else here." The Doctor shook his head. "Something I've missed. I can just feel it."

"Like what?"

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be missing it." And he just _knew_ it was something big and obvious, too - something staring him right in the face. Maybe even something he'd already thought of and forgotten about. The Doctor hated that feeling. He glumly kicked a torn-off chunk of fender down the tunnel.

They walked in silence for a moment. "Uhm." Shinji licked his lips. He had that look on his face again - the one where he obviously wanted to talk about something, but was too... well... _Shinji_ to bring it up.

The Doctor, as per long-established policy, wasn't having any of it. "What is it?"

"Umm... well..."

"Come on. Out with it." The Thing That He Was Missing, the Doctor thought, wasn't in the photo. He was certain of that now, at least. Wasn't in the TARDIS, either - he'd triple-checked the zeiton crystals before he'd left. _And_ turned off the iron.

"Well - I..." Shinji turned bright red. "I just - I was wondering. If you had any ideas."

"About?" It wasn't anything to do with the off-brand Cyberman or the not-zombies - though the Doctor really did need to follow up on both those. Maybe something back in the Reiquarium, then?...

"About - um." The boy squirmed. "How would you - how would one go about talking to... uh... to Rei?"

"Oh, is that all?" Something about the tanks? Or something he hadn't noticed about the spares? "Look, I know it's a lot to take in at once. But you need to understand - what you saw back there, what Rei _is_ - it's a perfectly valid form of life. I've seen it loads of times. Well, mostly in history museums, but still."

"That's, um, that's not what..."

"It's not like she's _changed_ or anything. It's just your perspective on her. Well, you've known she isn't human - you just know _more_ about her now." The Doctor paused. "Including what she looks like under her knickers, come to think of it."

"Uh." Even Shinji's _ears_ turned bright red. Amazing thing, the human cardiovascular system. Where _did_ it find enough blood?

"Bit awkward, I know, but you'll get past it." Something about the big brain? No, no, that didn't feel right... "The point is - she's still the same person. Still _culturally_ human, more or less. She's still your comrade who saved your life. All of our lives, in fact. And rather brilliantly, too, I might add."

"Yeah." Shinji smiled a bit and glanced back in the direction of the room. "She's... she's pretty amazing."

So the Thing Being Missed was not in the room, the Doctor thought. Something about Rei, though - that felt right. But not _just_ about Rei... Rei and the Angels? Rei and humanity? Rei and - wait, back up. He just asked me about how to talk to her. He knows her. Why would he ask me how to talk to -

The penny dropped.

The Doctor froze in place. "Oh." He looked up at Shinji, the Thing He Had Missed-Slash-Forgotten now revealed to him in all its hideous glory. "Ohhhhhhhhhh..."

Shinji stopped. "What? What is it?"

For the third time that day, the Doctor felt like a complete and utter git. God, he missed Donna. Donna would've seen this coming from miles away. _Lightyears,_ even.

He adjusted his tie. This... this wasn't going to be easy.

"Er... Shinji?" The Doctor coughed. "There's... something I _really_ should've mentioned before..."

The poor boy looked at him, as clueless as the day he'd been born. "... what's that?"

"Well..." The Doctor carefully put a hand on Shinji's shoulder. "... so you know how Rei doesn't have DNA so much as a repeating energy signature she transmits as part of her wave function?"

"Uh..."

"Really? Could've sworn I'd mentioned that. But anyway..." The Doctor waved a hand. "Point is, she does. And her signature bears a remarkable resemblance to the human genome. In electromagnetic form, if you can imagine that."

Shinji tilted his head. "I... guess that makes sense? Ritsuko said something like that once, I think."

The Doctor gritted his teeth. "So... Rei's signature is similar to your DNA."

"... yeah, so?

Big swing, no ding, the Doctor thought. That's okay, sticky wicket. Let's try that again. "_Very_ similar. To your DNA in particular. Your specific... _unique_ genetic information."

"Wait. Are you..." Shock dawned across Shinji's face. "Are you saying _we're related?!_"

The Doctor grimaced and slowly nodded.

"But how... if she's not even... but..." Shinji's jaw worked up and down silently for a moment or two. "... how _close_ a relative?!"

The Doctor drew in a breath. "Sis... ter?" he guessed. "Though, really, given the degree of the match, X-chromosomal clone's just about as likely..."

And he'd just said too much, hadn't he. He saw something behind Shinji's eyes shatter into a thousand pieces. Oh, now he'd done it. _Brilliant_ job, Doctor, just brilliant...

The boy didn't say anything for a while. He just rocked back and forth on his feet, staring out into nothing. "... Doctor?"

"Yeah?"

"I think... I think I'm going to need some more time in the Zero Room."

The Doctor nodded and patted him on the shoulder. "Yeah. Think we can make that happen."

He gently guided the boy down the tracks towards the cavern.

"It's probably for the best, though," the Doctor offered after a few moments. "Don't know if you picked up on it, but she can't be much older than ten years. Eleven on the outside, I'd reckon. And if it helps, this is actually a well-documented phenomena between siblings who first meet after childhood, believe it or not. Genetic sexual attraction, they call it. Bit interesting, really, from an macro-evolutionary standpoint. Relates back to _selfish gene theory_..."

"Doctor?"

"... not helping?"

"_Not. Helping._"

"Yeah..."

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_Graaahhhh. I'm sorry for the wait. Juggling too many projects at once again..._

_Yes, genetic sexual attraction is a thing. Yes, I know you all probably could've lived without knowing that. Them's the breaks._

_One last short chapter before this episode is a wrap. Have it written, hope to have it up fairly quickly. About time, am I right?..._


	77. Episode 9 Part VIII

Episode 9: Where Angels Fear to Tread  
>Part VIII: Worried Life Blues<p>

**Outside the TARDIS**  
><strong>Later that night<strong>

Misato stared through the open police box doors for what felt like an eternity. "... yeah, no."

"You sure?" The Doctor, leaning inside the doorway, raised an eyebrow. "Not even a quick look?"

She shook her head. "No offense, okay? I just spent my whole day being chased around by a naked bronze dude, and not in the fun way. I seriously need, like, _all_ the beer right now."

The Doctor made a face. "Fall back on that quite a bit, don't you?"

"Don't knock what works." Misato shifted her feet. "How's Shinji doing in there?"

He glanced back inside the box. "Yeaaahhhhh, think he's gonna be a while. I wouldn't wait up."

"Weird. He seemed to be taking everything really well before."

The Doctor shrugged. "... everyone has their limits, I suppose."

"Yeah. Speaking of which..." Misato smiled. "This isn't a no, okay? Just... not right now. Not tonight."

"Rain check?"

"Rain check."

"All right." He yawned. "G'night, then."

"Good night." Misato turned away and walked back towards the world she knew.

* * *

><p><strong>Office of Dr. Ritsuko Akagi. Central Dogma. NERV Headquarters.<strong>

Ritsuko flipped through the last few pages of the report and sighed. What a mess, she thought. One of these days, Katsuragi was really going to have to develop a sense of shame. Or, at least, figure out how to make her cover stories less transparent.

She tossed the report onto one of the piles on her desk, then glanced over at one of the monitors to her side. The topmost window on the screen showed a live video feed from the Dummy Plug Plant. The alleged alien statue stood motionless in the center of the chamber, surrounded on all sides by what struck Ritsuko as a truly excessive number of work lights. The lamps had been Katsuragi's idea, of course. "Just in case," her report had said. As if working down in that room hadn't already been enough of a pain to begin with.

Ritsuko shook her head and turned back to her laptop. She didn't have time for this right now. They were still far behind on the preparations for the cross-compatibility tests. Normally, she would've delegated this sort of thing to Maya, but the poor girl had already pulled a string of all-nighters on the report configurations and had worked herself to the brink of collapse. So once again, it seemed that Ritsuko was on her own...

The phone rang. Ritsuko sighed. Of course. It never failed. She picked up the receiver. "Akagi."

For a moment, she could only hear an odd droning buzz on the line. Then a young man asked, "Doctor Ritsuko Akagi?" His voice sounded distant, as if he was calling from the other side of the planet.

"Yes?"

Something flickered at the edge of her peripheral vision. She shifted her eyes in that direction. Everything looked exactly the same.

"Apologies for the interruption, miss," the young man said. "But I've concluded that it's in our best interests for us to talk."

"Who is this?" Ritsuko narrowed her eyes. "How did you get this number?"

"Found it in your systems, miss."

There it was again - that same strange little flash of light. Where was it coming from? It didn't seem to be from the desk lamp... "Really," she said in a skeptical tone. "And how did you manage that?"

"It wasn't hard, miss," the young man said. "Not for me. I've been inside this base for several of your months now. I know all of your secrets.

"I've even seen Core Control."

Ritsuko jolted upright in her chair. "Who are you?!" she demanded. "How could you possibly know about that?"

"Begging your pardon, miss, but I'm not the one you need to worry about," the voice on the other end of the line said. "It's the Doctor. He'll keep going until he knows everything. He always does. The moment he finds out what you've done, he'll burn this city to the ground. And you with it."

Ritsuko swallowed. Control, she thought. Stay in control. Stay rational. Contain the damage.

She swung around in her chair and crained her neck. No sign of anyone in the room outside her office, thank God, and the hallway beyond that was similarly deserted. No one watching, then. Or listening in. "As remarkable as he might be," she said, "the Doctor's still just one man. I sincerely doubt that he could -"

The voice laughed. It was a toneless, mechanical sort of sound, more the echo of a meaningful gesture than one itself.

"Did I say something funny?"

"You _are_ funny, miss," the voice replied. "You really don't know anything about the Doctor yet, do you. What he is. The things he's done."

Ritsuko rubbed her eyes. She turned back to the desk -

- just in time to see something flash across the screen.

As soon as her eyes focused on the monitor, it was gone. The screen's content looked exactly the same. It was nothing, her mind insisted. A trick of the light. Static in the video feed. An image artifact caused by unrelated network traffic. The possibilities were endless.

But... all the same... for just the slightest of milliseconds...

... she could have sworn that the statue had been looking straight up at the camera. At _her._

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Control, she reminded herself, her head spinning. Don't be like Mother. _Never_ be like Mother.

She licked her suddenly dry lips. "I'll ask you one last time," she said. "Who are you?"

"Just call me Bob, miss," the voice said. "Everyone does."

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_The playlist for this one sounds a little weird, since most of it comes from the Clapton album that Aoba's listening to in the prequel. Still, suppose that it might be worth a listen, so long as you don't mind the music history lesson._

_1) Rollin' and Tumblin' - Eric Clapton [Unplugged (Deluxe Edition)]  
>2) Layla - Eric Clapton [Unplugged (Deluxe Edition)]<br>3) My Father's Eyes (Take 2) - Eric Clapton [Unplugged (Deluxe Edition)]  
>4) Tears In Heaven - Eric Clapton [Unplugged (Deluxe Edition)]<br>5) San Francisco Bay Blues - Eric Clapton [Unplugged (Deluxe Edition)]  
>6) Running On Faith - Eric Clapton [Unplugged (Deluxe Edition)]<br>7) Corridors and Fire Escape - BBC National Orchestra of Wales & Ben Foster [Doctor Who (Original TV Series Soundtrack), Vol. 4]  
>8) Lonely Stranger - Eric Clapton [Unplugged (Deluxe Edition)]<br>9) Worried Life Blues - Eric Clapton [Unplugged (Deluxe Edition)]_

_As many of you already surmised, Angel Bob comes to us care of the Series 5 two-parter "The Time of Angels" / "Flesh and Stone." (Yes, said episodes feature the Eleventh Doctor. Timey-wimey, etc.). Note that the angels in question were tossed out through one of the Cracks at the end, which we later learned were linked to the Void between universes._

_Incidentally, before I give anyone the wrong impression, I'd recommend that those who are interested read the Wikipedia articles on genetic sexual attraction and the Westermarck effect. Biology is weird sometimes. What can I say._

_Otherwise, happy holidays to those who celebrate. Thanks again for sticking with me this long. Hard to believe it's going to be 2015 in just a few days, huh?..._


	78. Episode 10 Prequel

Episode 10 Prequel

**NERV Internal Use Only**  
><strong>Transcript Excerpt: First Cross-Compatibility Test<strong>  
><strong>Subjects: Pilot Rei Ayanami, Evangelion Unit 01<strong>  
><strong>Classified KETER<strong>

**LT. IBUKI:** Now entering the second hour of the test, ma'am.

**DR. AKAGI:** How are the readings?

**LT. IBUKI:** Error plus-minus zero-point-zero-three. Harmonics are regular. Synch ratio holding steady.

**DR. AKAGI:** Excellent. How does it feel, Rei? What do you think of Unit One?

**PILOT AYANAMI:** It smells like Pilot Ikari.

**DR. AKAGI:** At this point, I think we can safely declare that there are no detectable compatibility issues between Rei and Unit One.

**COMMANDER IKARI:** Good. Do we have sufficient data to move forward, Doctor?

**DR. AKAGI:** I believe so.

**COMMANDER IKARI:** Then I suggest we wrap things up for the day.

**DR. AKAGI:** Yes, sir. Rei, did you hear that? You can come out now.

**DR. AKAGI:** Rei?

**DR. AKAGI:** Rei? Is something wrong?

**PILOT AYANAMI:** I... I do not know.

**PILOT AYANAMI:** There are... I don't know any of these... _[inaudible]_

**DR. AKAGI:** Rei, talk to us.

**DR. AKAGI:** Is there any sign of mental contamination?

**LT. IBUKI:** No, ma'am. Link direction is stable. Getting some odd spikes on the psychograph, though.

**DR. AKAGI:** I still don't like it. This feels too much like that other time.

**DR. AKAGI:** Let's start disconnecting her. Slowly, please.

**LT. IBUKI:** Yes, ma'am. Stepping down link.

**PILOT AYANAMI:** _[inaudible]_

**LT. IBUKI:** Spinal nerve disconnected.

**PILOT AYANAMI:** _[inaudible]_ watch _[inaudible]_

**LT. IBUKI:** Ma'am, we're detecting irregularities in Rei's wave function.

**COMMANDER IKARI:** Get her out.

**LT. IBUKI:** Sir?

**COMMANDER IKARI:** Use the emergency eject if you have to. Just get her out now.

**DR. AKAGI:** Yes, sir. All stations, prepare for emergency neural disconnect on my mark. Five... four...

_[rise in ambient noise level]_

**LT. IBUKI:** Ma'am -

**DR. AKAGI:** Three -

**LT. IBUKI:** Ma'am, her heart just stopped.

**DR. AKAGI:** What?!

_[rise in ambient noise level]_

_[inside the test chamber, Evangelion Unit 01 begins to scream]_

**DR. AKAGI:** - shut it down! Shut it all down! Maya, access the plug suit functions. Charge the defibrillator -

**COMMANDER IKARI:** Rei! REI!

[ end of transcript ]

* * *

><p><em>Next time: The Anything Machine.<em>


	79. Episode 10 Part I

Episode 10: The Anything Machine  
>Part I: YANA (Excerpt)<p>

**Outside of Aga, Niigata Prefecture. 275 km north of Tokyo-3.**  
><strong>Late September 2015<strong>

Daisuke Mamiya climbed down from his truck and walked towards the tiny Nissan two-seater pulled off to the side of the road. He'd heard this kind of thing had been happening. Folks would try and skirt the edge of the fallout zone, only to wind up stuck in the middle of nowhere when their little consumer batteries gave out. "Oi!" He knocked on the Nissan's window. "You need a charge?"

The driver's side window went down. Well, crap, Daisuke thought. He found himself looking at a lanky scarecrow of a foreigner, his tall frame almost comically folded within the tiny vehicle. Two haunted blue eyes peered out from behind a truly massive beard of tangled black hair. The driver wore what looked like hospital scrubs, and sat wrapped in a cheap plaid blanket.

"You, uh, speak any Japanese, then?" Daisuke tried to recall what few scraps of English he still had left over from high school. Which wasn't much, given that he'd been failing that class - he'd sat behind that one really pretty girl, God, what was her name again? The one who'd dyed her hair pink - right before Second Impact hit. After which point, of course, it hadn't mattered anymore. "You... oh kay?" He mimed the thumbs-up sign. "You help?"

"_Izvinite,_" the foreigner muttered.

"Huh?" Daisuke stared at the strange man.

Underneath the blanket, the foreigner lifted his hand. Daisuke didn't see the shape of the gun until it was too late.

* * *

><p><strong>Staff Bathroom. Central Dogma. NERV Headquarters.<strong>  
><strong>October 2015<strong>

He vomited the last of his breakfast into the toilet. Trembling, Shinji rose to his feet off the bathroom floor, the taste of tea and spoiled rice porridge still on his tongue. He wiped his mouth off with a paper towel and stared at himself in the mirror, just one question on his mind. Why? He asked himself. Seriously, just... why?

* * *

><p><strong>Central Dogma<strong>

He stumbled back out into the corridor. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Misato shrugged. "It's not _your_ fault. You sure you're feeling up to this?"

"Yeah. Let's just get it over with." They started back down the hallway. "It just doesn't make any sense, you know?"

"This'll be your first time piloting Unit Zero," Misato said. "It's natural you'd feel nervous."

"Well, yeah, sure, a little, maybe." Shinji ran his hands through his hair. "But this is just a _test._ I didn't feel like this the last time I went into combat. I didn't even feel this bad when we were - you know." He mimed resting his chin on the back of his hand.

"What do you want me to say?" Misato nodded at someone passing by in the other direction. "Our minds can be mysterious things sometimes, even to ourselves."

"But don't you ever get frustrated by that, though? Not even understanding what's going on inside your own head?"

"Sure. But it's not like getting frustrated is going to make me understand myself any better." They came up on the elevator to the catwalks. "You know how this'll work, right? We'll load you into Unit Zero here. Then you just need to wait while they haul you down to the test chamber."

"Nope." Shinji held up the paperback he'd been carrying under his arm. "Completely missed that the million other times you explained it."

Misato snorted. "Brat." She scratched the top of his head. "We'll go out for lunch after this, okay? Refill that empty stomach of yours."

"Thanks." He tried to smile. The edges of his mouth wobbled. Stupid nervous... nerves. "Just as long as it's not that pizza place again. I don't even get why you'd eat something that greasy."

She pouted. "But that's what makes it so _good!_"

"Yeah, yeah. Save it for your heart surgeons." The elevator door opened. Shinji stepped in...

... and nearly walked right into Rei.

Shinji nearly retched again. The door slid shut behind him. Not ready for this, he thought. Oh so much not even _close_ to ready to deal with this. He quickly turned away.

Rei didn't say anything. She didn't seem to react to his presence at all.

Just... don't say anything, Shinji thought. Don't look at her. It'll all be over in a few seconds. See? The elevator's already slowing down...

"Whatever happens," Rei said softly, "you must not listen to her."

Shinji twitched. "W-what?"

"You must not listen to her."

The elevator opened. Shinji immediately fled out into the corridor. As he turned the next corner, he risked a bewildered glance back. Rei hadn't moved. She stood alone in the elevator, her back turned towards him, as the doors closed once again.

* * *

><p><strong>Laboratory Operations Center. Large-Scale Test Area 2. Sigma Unit.<strong>

Misato entered the control room to find preperations for the test well underway. Ritsuko and Maya were already there, bent down over one of the consoles, while Makoto had taken his station in the first row. At this point, though, Misato knew the majority of the grunt work was in the hands of the six control specialists scattered throughout the room.

Sipping her coffee, she looked out through the large glass windows at the front of the control center. The transport crane bearing Unit Zero had arrived, and was in the midst of pinning the Evangelion to the test area's wall. Glancing down the currently open tunnel, she could see Unit Two, bound within its own support vehicle, being towed back up to the main cages.

She walked up to Makoto and tapped him on the shoulder. "How'd Asuka's sync test go?"

He shrugged. "I just got here myself. Why don't you ask her?"

"Because she _knows_ we're not on speaking terms at the moment, that's why," Asuka snapped through the comm link, her voice several degrees below freezing. Misato winced. Of _course_ Ritsuko had set up the conference call already, she thought.

Makoto gave her a bewildered look. "Is... um... there a reason?..."

"I let Shinji off the hook for breaking CTQ over the weekend," Misato muttered. "Long story. It's kind of become a thing now."

"A _thing?_ Is that what you call this kind of blatant discrimination?!" Asuka's face popped up on the console monitor. So much for the silent treatment, Misato thought. The girl looked exhausted today, big bags under her eyes and all. Misato wondered how late she'd stayed up the night before.

Misato sighed. "We've been over this, Asuka. There were special circumstances I can't -"

"Oh, _special_ circumstances!" Asuka parroted mockingly. "Of course, Captain! So sorry, Captain! A thousand apologies! How _dare_ I question the _amazing_ Shinji!" She went back to her normal voice, her face hardening. "Seriously, why don't you just come out and say it? Did Daddy pull rank for his baby boy? Or is it just because he's full Japanese and I'm not?" Makoto winced. "Just what the hell is it that makes _him_ deserve special treatment and not _me?!_"

Well, actually, Asuka, I'm cutting him some slack right now because of the surprise alien sister he just found out about, Misato thought. Who - side note here - it turns out has had the full run of our top-secret base for God-only-knows-how-long, even though she's at least part Angel and could, for all we know, just randomly freak out and decide to end the world as we know it at any moment. Because, hey, it's not like we haven't seen the Evas do anything like that before, right?...

Not that it mattered, of course. She wasn't even close to ready to tell Asuka about any of that, let alone on an open channel. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Asuka..."

"And another thing - why're you even using that idiot for these cross-compatibility tests?!" Asuka took in a breath. "You _know_ I'm five times the pilot he'll ever be! Even _he_ knows it! When he bothers to think, anyway."

"I can hear you, you - right, yeah, of course you know," Shinji mumbled through the link.

"I can cut her link at any time, ma'am," Maya whispered. Misato glanced over to see her leaning over from her own console. Most of the room was staring at this point, of course. Ritsuko stood a few paces back from Maya with her arms crossed, an exasperated look on her face.

"Pilot Ikari has logged the most hours in combat," Rei said. Misato tensed and spun around. The girl stood by the room's back wall, dressed in her plug suit. "He also possesses the highest number of enemy kills on record."

"Th - that doesn't matter!" Asuka sputtered. "He's just been here longer, that's all! And don't forget, my kill count is still higher than _yours_, freak!"

"Our recorded kills are equal," Rei calmly stated.

"THAT'S A LIE!"

"It is not." Rei walked past Misato towards the front of the room. "Technically, the last Angel you defeated was one half of a composite entity. You also share credit for the Gaghiel incident with Pilot Ikari. The official count in your personnel file is therefore two half-kills or one kill total."

"But - that's - you - this is BULLSHIT!" Asuka exploded. "Who made up these stupid rules?! Who the hell do they think they are?! I -"

Ritsuko sighed. "As productive as this discussion no doubt is, I'm afraid that we're already running behind schedule. _Weeks_ behind schedule, in fact. You kids will have to continue this later." She signaled Maya.

"I'M NOT -" Asuka's voice cut off in mid-sentence.

The room went silent as everyone took a moment to enjoy the sound of silence. Ritsuko gave Misato an irritated look. "You really couldn't keep all of that at home?"

Misato shook her head morosely. "She would've tried something like this eventually. Better she gets it out of her system now than in an emergency."

Maya tugged on Ritsuko's sleeve. "Ma'am," she said quietly, "not to pry, but what's Rei doing here?" She gestured to the girl, who now stood directly in front of the safety glass. "I mean, she went into cardiac arrest less than forty-eight hours ago. Shouldn't she still be in Medical?"

Ritsuko shrugged. "She insisted on being here. The commander approved her request."

Maya blinked. "Strange... that doesn't sound like her at all."

And that's not the only thing, Misato thought as she eyed the pale girl's back. I never would've expected Rei to deliberately rile up Asuka like that, either. Just what is going on inside that girl's head right now? Rei stared out through the windows, her face as expressionless as ever.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Unit Zero<strong>

"Initiating third connection," Maya said through the audio link. "Pilot neural activity within expected parameters."

"How does it feel so far, Shinji?" Ritsuko asked.

Shinji shifted in his seat. "To be honest? Kind of weird."

"Is there a connection issue?" Maya asked.

"No, no. It's just..." _Don't_ say that it smells like Rei, he thought. That'd sound weird. "... it just feels different, that's all."

"That's to be expected," Ritsuko said. "If that's all, let's move onto the final connection, Maya."

"Yes, ma'am. Initializing A10 nerve connection."

But, then again, _everything_ felt weird today, Shinji thought. He could still feel the same nameless, causeless fear that he'd been hit with the moment he'd stepped onto the base that morning. And then there'd been the whole argument about the kill counts. It'd been odd to hear Rei and Asuka talk that way. The Doctor wouldn't have liked hearing that, he knew that mu

_Ow._

A sharp pain hit him right between the eyes like an arrow. He instinctively grabbed his head. What the - what was this? Something pushing in? A thought, an image - what was going -

* * *

><p><em>The next thing he knew, he found himself standing in a hallway.<em>

_He blinked. "What," he said out loud. "Just... what."_

_He didn't recognize the dark corridor - or maybe tunnel - that stretched out in front of him. It was made out of concrete, a thin veneer of cracked blue paint staining the walls, and lit by a string of old-fashioned incandescent bulbs enmeshed in steel cages. On his left side, the ceiling curved down to meet the floor, bearing faded instructions printed in a language he didn't know. On his right, he could see a line of metal doors, each one bearing extra locks and rusted mechanisms on the outside, like the hatches on a ship... or maybe the cell doors in a prison._

_He swallowed. Okay, this... this couldn't_ possibly _end well._

_He found himself shivering. The air was freezing here. Somewhere in the background, he could hear something dripping._

_"Um... hello?" he called out. "Anyone there?... Misato? Ritsuko?... Doctor?..."_

_Down the hallway, he heard a sharp, indrawn breath._

_Okay,_ no, _he thought. Come on. What would the Doctor do? Think, think... options. What are my options? He glanced down at himself. Wherever he was, he was still dressed in his plug suit. Oh, great. He didn't even have_ pockets, _much less anything useful. He lifted and flexed his hand. Wait... that was interesting. His arm left visible afterimages in the air when he moved it. So... maybe this wasn't real. Maybe he was in a virtual world, like he'd read about in the Doctor's books. Or some kind of dream._

_He immediately tried to imagine himself a dragon. Or a magic sword. Or just a coat, even. No such luck._

_"Exit," he whispered, trying to guess at cheat codes. "Quit. Um. Open sesame. Power overwhelming. Accio minimap?..."_

_He glanced behind him. The corridor behind him was completely dark. No light whatsoever. That's just poor level design, he thought._

_Unable to think of anything else to do, he crept down the corridor towards the source of the noise... just like every stupid character in every horror movie he'd ever seen. At the end of the hall, he found a single cell door left ajar. Entire body trembling, he braced himself and peeked carefully around the edge of the opening._

_He saw Rei inside._

_She sat nude on the floor in the middle of the chamber, back turned towards him, rocking silently back and forth. Pieces of a dismantled machine lay strewn around her. It looked like it might have once been some sort of traffic signal, given that Shinji could see a green lightbulb and fragments of red glass glittering amid the parts. The room was covered from floor and ceiling in white tile, save for a single wide mirror on the wall opposite Shinji._

_"Rei?" He stepped gingerly into the doorway. "What are - where are we?" He averted his eyes. "And why are you naked? Again."_

_She didn't respond._

_He hesistated and glanced down the corridor. So... now what? He supposed that he could try opening the other cells. Except he had a feeling he really wouldn't like what he found there..._

_He heard the dripping sound again. He turned back._

_Rei was crying._

_She didn't make a sound. But he could see the tears falling from the edges of her face, down onto the floor below._

_And I've seen people cry like that before, haven't I, Shinji thought. He'd done it himself, more times than he could count, both in the city and at the school. Thing was, you didn't cry silently because you were afraid to be heard... though, all right,_ sometimes _that was part of it. Mostly, you kept quiet because there wasn't any point in being loud. No one that could hear you would care._

_He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. It couldn't be helped._

_He stepped into the room. "Look, is there maybe a towel or something -"_

_It happened in an instant. All at once, she turned and flew straight towards him, an unearthly scream in the air -_

* * *

><p><strong>Laboratory Operations Center<strong>

Alarms began to scream throughout the control room as Unit Zero suddenly jerked its head to the side. "Report!" Misato yelled over the cacophony.

"Connection is reversing!" Maya's fingers pounded against the keyboard. "Mental contamination underway!"

"Shut off all circuits!" Ritsuko leaned forward, her face pale. "Cut the power supply!"

Inside the test chamber, Unit Zero tore its head loose from the restraints as the umbilical cord shot free of its back. It pulled one arm free - the giant shackles ripped straight out of the wall - then the next. Pressing its hands against the sides of its helmet, it threw back its head and howled.

"Eva has switched to backup power!" Makoto reported.

Misato gripped the back of his chair. "What about Shinji?"

"All telemetry from Unit Zero has been cut off!" Maya said. "We can't monitor him!"

Ritsuko stared out the window. "It's happening again... is it trying to absorb Shinji?"

Unit Zero let go of its head. It picked up one of the discarded arm restraints off of the test chamber's floor and started to crush and mangle the metal in its hands.

Misato tried to recall what Ritsuko had told her about the last time Unit Zero went berserk. She hadn't been there for it - some sync test had gone wrong a few days before she arrived in the city. The Eva had torn itself free, injured Rei somehow, crippled itself... it'd been weeks before they could even think about using it in combat...

"It's no good!" Maya yelled. "Auto-eject's not responding!"

Unit Zero rose up. It swung its hand straight towards the window.

Misato saw Rei standing in front of the glass. She tried to shout a warning, but the words caught in her throat -

The Eva's palm slammed over the window. The glass shook, but held.

Rei stood her ground, her entire body tensed. "What's it -" Ritsuko began to ask.

A massive sliver of metal ripped through the Eva's hand, through the glass, and into the control room. It stuck out at a angle, away from Rei's side and towards the science team. Its tip hung in the air about twenty centimeters away from Ritsuko's face. She stepped back, her face drained of all color, her mouth working silently up and down.

Liters of a thick, orange fluid leaked down the makeshift blade and pooled onto the floor.

Metal from the restraints, Misato thought, her pulse racing, as she stared at the giant fragment. That's what it was doing before. But what was it up to?

"Bakelite," Ritsuko croaked. "Deploy the Bakelite! Immediately!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Maya wiped the LCL off of her monitor and entered commands furiously into the keyboard. "Wait - that can't be -" She stopped short.

"What's wrong?" Ritsuko asked.

"The... the MAGI. They're gone." Maya sat back from her terminal, a stunned look on her face. "The entire cluster's down. I can't get to the automated controls!"

"WHAT?!" Ritsuko pushed Maya aside and peered into the monitor.

"Isn't that supposed to be impossible?!" Misato asked.

"_Extremely_ improbable!" Ritsuko's eyes scanned back and forth. "The number of backups -"

"Uh... Captain?" Makoto swallowed. He pointed at the floor.

There were shapes rising - coalescening, somehow - out of the Eva's blood. Not just shapes - _bodies._

Misato immediately pulled out her sidearm. Maya rose from her chair and backed away. The rest of the team followed her lead. One of the figures stepped out from the pool, orange liquid condenscing into bone and skin and flesh before Misato's eyes. She raised her gun at it -

In the blink of an eye, before she could so much as think of pulling the trigger, the figure leapt out and seized the specialist standing next to Misato by the face.

The man _melted._ His flesh and bones dissolved all at once into a thick blood-red mush that spread across the floor. He didn't even have a chance to scream.

The figure turned towards Misato. And that's when Misato recognized it.

It looked like Rei. Or _one_ of the Reis, at least, from the tank. Same pale skin, same bleach-white hair.

The only exception was the bone mask growing out of its face.

Misato's body felt like stone. She couldn't move, couldn't breath. Pull the trigger, she thought, _pull the damned trigger_ -

The air blurred. Rei grabbed her duplicate by the back of the neck and flung it against the back wall.

Behind her, Misato saw three other masked Reis step out out of the Eva's blood. With at least half a dozen others forming behind them.

Rei looked at Misato. "Run," she said.

Somehow, that broke the spell. "OUT!" Misato roared. "EVERYONE OUT! GO GO GO!" She ran for the exit, just a step or two behind Makoto and the one remaining specialist on that side of the room. She glanced back and raised her handgun towards the growing crowd of albino figures, though now Rei was in the midst of them like a whirlwind, striking faster than Misato's eyes could see, but it wasn't enough, the clones were getting through -

* * *

><p><strong>Large-Scale Test Area 2<strong>

Unit Zero pulled its hand off of the jagged piece of metal. It turned and marched towards the wall that covered the entrance to the access tunnel. It raised its fists.

* * *

><p><strong>Outside the Test Area<strong>

They didn't stop running until they reached the junction that connected Sigma Unit to the rest of Central Dogma. Misato skidded to a halt. Somewhere above her head, she knew, a set of emergency barriers hung within the ceiling, ready to seal off the test area at the pull of a switch. "Get to the controls!" she shouted to Makoto.

"Right!" She heard Makoto break the emergency glass in front of the lockdown trigger.

Misato crept a few paces down the hall, handgun raised in front of her. She saw a flash of movement - immediately aimed - then relaxed slightly as Maya rounded the corner, three of the specialists in tow.

"Dr. Akagi - she's right behind me - she's right -" Maya wheezed as she approached. "You have to wait -"

"Get outside the containment zone!" Misato barked.

She turned back to the hallway - just in time to see a masked Rei appear at the other end. Its empty eyes staring at her.

Misato didn't hesistate this time. She aimed and fired.

The clone detonated, dissolving immediately into a thick white fog. Which made it official. "Not-zombies," Misato muttered to herself. Not-zombie Reis. What in God's name...

She shoved the thought to the back of her head as Ritsuko and the last specialist burst through the cloud of smoke, coughing and covering their faces. "COME ON!" Misato shouted. She waited until they crossed down the hall, then followed.

She found Maya and the other techs collapsed on the floor, catching their breath. Makoto stood nearby, his hand on the lever. "Punch it, Lieutenant!" Misato shouted.

"Ma'am, wait!" Maya straightened up. "What about Rei?! The real one, I mean."

"We can't afford to wait," Ritsuko said hoarsely. "Do it."

The lieutenant looked at Misato dubiously. She hesistated, then gave him a short nod. He pulled the lever.

Klaxons sounded throughout the level. "Attention," a cheerful-sounding male voice intoned. "Emergency containment initiated. As per standard protocol, the test area will be hermetically sealed, then sterilized with microwave radiation. All personnel should evacuate immediately. Exits will close in: ten seconds. Ten. Nine. Eight."

The containment barrier began to descend. Misato kept her gaze locked on the corridor back to the test area. Behind her, she heard Maya let out a barely-concealed sob.

"Six," the cheerful voice said. "Five. Four. Three."

Misato saw a shadow flicker across the floor beyond the barrier. She raised the handgun.

In a flash, Rei dove out from underneath the bulkhead, rolling into a low crouch. Misato's brain registered the sight of the plug suit. She jerked her finger away from the trigger.

The containment barrier slammed down.

"Test area sealed," Mr. Cheerful said. "Sterilization in progress."

"Oh, thank God." Maya collapsed back on the floor in relief.

Misato leaned against the hallway wall, letting the adrenaline wash through her. Then she felt the bulkhead and the floor below her feet tremble. She heard a sound in the distance not unlike a sledgehammer striking rock over and over again. The entire structure quaked with each blow.

Rei stood up. She went to one of the wall speakers and tore the panel underneath it off, revealing an old-fashioned telephone keypad. She dialed a number. The speaker let out a single ring before someone picked up. "Ikari," the commander's voice said.

"She's free," Rei said. "I am sorry. It's my fault."

A short pause. "I'm on my way." The commander hung up the phone.

Rei stood in place, facing the speaker. It took Misato a second or two to notice that the girl was rocking back and forth slowly on her feet. The movement was so slight, Misato could barely see it at all.

Misato glanced at the rest of the control room team, then crossed to Rei. She put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Rei," she said quietly. "I'm ordering you to tell me what's going on. What happened to Unit Zero? What are the not-zombies from the school doing here? Why do they all look like you?"

Rei didn't answer. Misato gently but firmly turned her around. "Rei, that -"

She looked into Rei's eyes. And suddenly Misato knew exactly what was going on inside Rei's head.

Rei was... no, not just afraid. Terrified.

Somewhere in the background, Misato heard a sound not unlike the collapse of a building. Or a concrete wall shattering to bits. "Warning," Mr. Cheerful said. "Containment failure detected. Hermetic seal has been breached."

Rei swallowed, her eyes wide. "Prisoner zero has escaped," she said.

* * *

><p><em>AUTHOR'S NOTES<em>

_CTQ = "confined to quarters." In other words, military speak for "grounded."_

_Someone asked me at some point to try posting the usual playlist ahead of the episode rather than after, and I've been meaning to change things up for a while anyway. The method for telling which track matches up with which part is pretty simple - the playlist's where I get the chapter titles from. Also, keep in mind that the link between music and story might be more thematic or atmospheric than anything else._

_So here's what I've been listening to for this one:_

_1) "YANA (Excerpt)" - BBC National Orchestra of Wales [Doctor Who - Series 3 (Original Television Soundtrack)]_  
><em>2) "The Velourium Camper I: Faint of Hearts" - Coheed and Cambria [In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3]<em>  
><em>3) "The Sybilline Sisterhood" - BBC National Orchestra of Wales &amp; Ben Foster [Doctor Who (Original TV Series Soundtrack), Vol. 4]<em>  
><em>4) "Blumenkranz (:[nZk] ver)" - Paperblossom<em>  
><em>— (a fan cover of "Blumenkranz" from the anime<em> Kill la Kill. _You can find it on Youtube by searching for the artist and song title)_  
><em>5) "Lock + Load" - Amanda Lepre [Beneath the Forest of Error]<em>  
><em>6) "Sacrifice" - Jeff Williams &amp; Casey Lee Williams [Rwby, Vol. 2 (Original Soundtrack &amp; Score)]<em>  
><em>7) "Pretty Little Head" - Eliza Rickman [O, You Sinners]<em>  
><em>— (I'm not quite certain what's going on in this track. All I know is that I find it vaguely... concerning.)<em>  
><em>8) "Cherry Bomb" - The Runaways [Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix, Vol. 1 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)]<em>  
><em>9) "I Burn" - Jeff Williams (feat. Casey Lee Williams &amp; Lamar Hall) [Rwby Volume 1 Soundtrack]<em>  
><em>10) "I Don't Want To (Love You)" - TAT [Soho Lights]<em>  
><em>— (warning: language. As in, not safe for work or school. They're a punk band; comes with the territory.)<em>

_One final word of warning: this episode's going to get a little dark. Even by my standards. So, yeah... just be ready for that._


	80. Bonus Material: Ayanami Report (1 of 2)

Episode 10: The Anything Machine  
>Bonus Material: The Ayanami Report, Part 1 of 2<p>

**NERV INTERNAL DOCUMENT**

_Description: Shortly after Pilot Ayanami regained consciousness following the First Cross-Compatibility Test, Commander Ikari and Dr. Akagi requested a written account of what she experienced during the time immediately prior to her disconnection from Unit One. She produced the following composition in response._

Mountains. Heavy. Things that change over time.

Sky. What one's eyes cannot see.

Sun. One. Only one.

Water. It is agreeable.

Flowers. Many flowers. So many of the same. And so many unneeded.

The city. A human creation.

Evangelion. A human creation.

Who is this? This is me. Who am I? What am I? What am I? What am I?...

I am... something new.

This object is me. The form that shapes me. This is the me that can be seen, yet I feel as though I am not myself.

I see someone who is not me.

Pilot Ikari?...

Then Captain Katsuragi.

Doctor Akagi.

Classmates.

The pilot of Unit Two.

Commander Ikari?

The Doctor. The other. Like humans, but not human. Like me, but not like me.

Now I see... an old man with long white hair. And a cane.

Then another person with a strange haircut. He plays a flute.

Another old man. White hair. Strange clothing.

... I don't know who any of these people are.

A person with a long scarf. Very large hair. It is... concerning.

I don't understand. Why am I being shown these men? What is their relevance?

More faces. Light hair. Dark hair. Short. Tall...

Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?...


End file.
